Nightmares Were Never Meant To Be Happy
by supernaturalxaddictz
Summary: -ON HOLD- Setsu hated herself. Her powers had only proved to bring suffering to the people she loved and cared about. When her very own father froze her in ice for 5 years, Natsu, Lucy, Gray and Erza free her, and she goes with them to join the famous magic guild, Fairy Tail. There, she unravels hidden truths as she learns more about her powers and her identity. Gray x OC
1. Chapter 1

"Is this the place?" Lucy questioned. The team roamed the empty streets of the village, scanning their surroundings.

It was quiet, almost too quiet. There was hardly anyone around, despite the large number of houses in the area. There was an eeriness that lingered in the air, and Lucy felt uneasiness piling up at the pit of her stomach.

"Where's everyone?" Happy asked.

"I don't know. We could just ask," Gray said, seemingly unfazed by the strange village. He headed towards a bar at the side of the road, the team following behind him silently.

The door creaked open, and the doorbell jingled to signal their entrance. It was small, and considerably dark. Small lanterns dangled from the ceiling, bathing the bar in a warm, orange hue.

There was a soft, calming melody playing in the background. A single bartender stood behind the counter, his head snapping up at their entrance. He was young, probably in his early twenties. His dark hair was neatly combed back, green eyes glancing them over.

He smiled welcomingly, not saying anything as he gestured to the table in front of him.

"I'll have a beer," Gray ordered, as he settled down with the rest of the team.

"Me too," Erza smiled. The bartender gave a single nod, the smile never leaving his face as he filled two empty mugs with beer.

"Never seen you guys around here before," he commented. His voice was deep, sophisticated.

"Yea, we're here for a mission," Natsu grinned.

"A mission?" he echoed, his eyebrows scrunching up slightly in confusion as he passed the two mugs over.

"We're at the right village, right? Old Mill Village?" Lucy asked, leaning over the table slightly.

"Yes, you're at the right place. Do you mind me asking what type of mission…?" he tilted his head slightly.

"Oh, it was something about some evil spirit," Natsu answered nonchalantly, "Hey, you got any food?"

The bartender smiled, passing over a menu, before his expression turned serious yet again, "Evil spirits?"

His brow furrowed, and his face seemed to darken. Gray watched him cautiously as he took a sip of his beer. Natsu, on the other hand, not realizing the atmosphere, shouted out his order enthusiastically, his fists pounding on the table in anticipation.

"Do you know anything?" Erza asked casually, as the bartender walked to the fridge to take out the ingredients.

"Our village head is the one who requested for help from magic guilds," he answered, "The rest of the villagers didn't really approve."

He made his way to the sink, washing the vegetables before placing them on the chopping board.

"Why not?" Gray pressed.

"We've kind of lost hope. This 'evil spirit' has been around for 5 years now, and so far, the people who've come claiming that they could get rid of it have all failed," he replied, chopping the vegetables up.

There was a short silence, before he continued, "I'm not even sure if it's an evil spirit. Nobody knows. All we know is that whatever this thing is, it's causing suffering."

"How so?"

The man switched on the stove, before frying the vegetables and rice, the scent wafting over to the table as Natsu and Happy started salivating in hunger.

Once he was done, he placed it on a plate and handed it over to the eager Natsu.

"Nightmares," he said casually, "Very bad ones."

"Nightmares?" Lucy echoed.

"Yes, nightmares. All the villagers suffer from them, even the pets," he sighed, "That's why our village is known for having the most suicides. More than a few have taken their own lives to get away from the night terrors."

"W-Why don't they leave the village?" Lucy stuttered, horrified.

"Even if we leave, the nightmares continue. It never leaves us alone," he replied, "It's those types of nightmares where you can't really distinguish it from reality. You can't tell the difference."

"The reason why we call it an 'evil spirit' is because of what happened five years ago. A young girl came to our town, probably around 12. She came into this very bar, sat at this very table. I didn't think much of it, just thought she was a traveler."

The man ran his fingers through his hair and down his face, his eyes dazed as he reminisced the past.

"We talked. She was really quiet at first, but she opened up after a while. Opened up a lot actually." he chuckled, "She was really entertaining. Seemed like a completely different person after she opened up." He paused for a while, hesitating slightly, "When I asked her why she was travelling alone at such a young age, she just kept avoiding the question. She looked scared."

"Scared? Scared of what?" Gray asked.

"I don't know. But she was absolutely terrified. I managed to piece together a few of her answers and found out that she was running away from someone. I didn't pry anymore after that."

"She stayed for about a month or so, and we became good friends. She came to this bar every day, and we just talked. She was amazing. She was my best friend," a soft, sad smile spread across his lips.

"But then, one day, this man came. He didn't look like anything much, but the moment he stepped into the bar, her face paled and she started shaking bad. I knew that it was the person she was running away from, so I hid her. I hid her under the counter, and when he asked me whether I'd seen her around, I told him no."

"When he left, she told me she was going to leave the village, that she couldn't get caught by that man. I told her I'd help her. That day, it was the village head's birthday. The whole village was celebrating, and all the villagers were gathered at the fountain. Maybe she thought that she would be safer at a crowded place, so we went there, hiding in the crowd," the bartender's voice started getting more strained, he paused for a while, trying to calm himself down.

"She got caught. He found her, somehow, and he shot her," he choked at those words, and Lucy let out a small gasp of horror.

"He shot her, and she fell right into the fountain, in front of all the villagers. She fell into the water, but when we rushed up to check up on her, she wasn't there. She was gone, just disappeared into thin air."

"When we turned to confront the man who shot her, he was gone too. They just vanished, without a trace."

"From that day onwards, the villagers started getting nightmares. It was the day that she died, the day that she vanished that we started suffering from these night terrors."

And just as he uttered that last word, the door to the bar swooshed open, the doorbell jingling as an old man walked in, a smoking pipe in his mouth.

"Cain," he greeted the bartender, before his eyes landed on the group of four, no, _five,_ including Happy. His eyes seemed to light up.

"Ah, you must be mages from Fairy Tail," he smiled, "I'm the village head. I believe Cain has told you about the evil spirit in this village."

"Yea. So you think that this…girl is the evil spirit that is causing these nightmares?" Gray asked, leaning back on the chair.

"Not exactly an evil spirit, rather a ghost. There wasn't anything particularly evil about her when she was alive," the old man chuckled.

"I'm not really sure about that," Cain muttered under his breath. The old man and the mages didn't seem to hear him, except for a particular Dragon Slayer.

"What do you mean?" Natsu narrowed his eyes at the bartender, done with his meal.

"What?" Lucy stuttered in confusion.

"He just said that he wasn't really sure whether she wasn't evil. What do you mean?" Natsu repeated, his voice firm.

"Setsu was…always strange. She was always hiding something, and I know for a fact that she suffered from night terrors of her own," Cain answered, "She always said something like 'I don't deserve happiness' or 'Someone is going to die soon'. There was once when we were cornered by a few delinquents in the streets. One moment they were threatening us, and the next they were quivering on the ground in terror."

"This girl…Setsu, she could use magic?" Erza asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yea, she told me she could when I asked her. But she wouldn't show me," Cain said, shrugging his shoulders.

The four mages exchanged glances. "Hey, Natsu. Shouldn't we check out that fountain first? It's where Setsu and that man disappeared," Happy asked, tugging on Natsu's arm.

"I'll lead you there," the village head smiled, and, after saying goodbye to Cain, the four mages followed the old man out of the bar.

It was getting dark, probably around 7 in the evening. All was quiet, and the group could see some villagers peeking at them from their windows.

The village head came to a stop in front of a large fountain. It was pristine white, but no water flowed. The water was slightly murky from years of not changing it, and the white fountain was stained with dirt.

"We stopped using the fountain after that incident," the village head explained. Erza scanned the fountain, "Looks like a normal fountain to me."

Gray dipped his hand into the water, feeling flooring underneath. "I don't get how she disappeared. The water is so shallow."

"I'll leave you mages here, I have work to do. If you find anything, please call me, my house is just over there," the old man said, walking away.

The group didn't pay any attention to him, too engrossed in investigating the fountain. There was something about it that seemed unusual, though they couldn't really put a finger on it.

"Hey, they said that she fell into the fountain, right? Maybe if we reenact it, something will happen," Natsu grinned.

"Stupid flame-brain. That won't work," Gray scoffed. Natsu's eyes narrowed as he advanced towards the ice mage, "What did you say, you ice princess?"

"Who're you calling an ice princess, you…" Gray trailed off, his eyes widening and cold sweat forming on his forehead when he felt a familiar deathly glare boring into his back.

Natsu seemed to realize the deathly aura that surrounded them as well, as he turned slowly to look back at the furious redhead.

"E-Erza," he stuttered.

"We're getting along just fine," Gray stuttered, his arm wrapping around Natsu's shoulders stiffly as they danced around together.

"Aye," Natsu said stupidly, sweat trickling down his face.

Erza nodded in approval, not noticing how unnatural the two boys were, "Yes, we should always get along -"

She was cut off by a shrill scream, and the three mages snapped to attention as they turned around, eyes darting around cautiously.

Happy stood rigidly next to the fountain, his small body trembling as he stared at it in horror.

"L-Lucy," the cat stuttered, "Lucy disappeared."

"What?!" Natsu cried, darting for the fountain. He splashed the water around, trying to find the blonde woman. But when he did, he backed away almost immediately, shocked.

"What's wrong?" Gray asked.

"Neh, Gray. You felt flooring underneath when you put your hand into the water, right?" Natsu muttered, turning his head to face the ice mage. Gray responded with a nod, and Natsu continued, "There's nothing underneath."

Gray paused, his brow furrowing. "But that's not possible; I felt it just a minute ago." He stepped forward, sinking his hand in the water yet again. But this time, he didn't feel anything underneath. The water was deep; very deep.

"Did you do something, Happy?" he questioned the cat. Happy responded with a small nod.

"I-I just touched this part," the cat replied, tapping his paw against a part of the fountain. There was a soft click, so soft it was almost inaudible, and Gray's hand made contact with the flooring he felt earlier on.

"Happy, touch that again," he said, and the cat obliged. There was a click again, and the flooring disappeared.

"It's some sort of mechanism," he muttered. "We better go in and take a look. Lucy's there, after all."

And, without further ado, he jumped into the fountain, the two mages following closely behind him, with Happy tucked under Natsu's arm. They sunk like rocks, and it was only a few seconds before they were suddenly out of the water, falling through the air to the ground below.

They landed with a resounding crash, rubble flying everywhere from the impact of their fall. Lucy's cry of surprise could be vaguely heard, as the three mages got up from the ground.

"Oh, Lucy!" Natsu grinned. Lucy sat just a distance away, still in shock from her team mates' unexpected fall.

"Where is this place?" Gray mumbled, dusting the rubble off his body. They were in a hall of some sort, a wide open space surrounded by thick grey walls. At a far end of the hall, there was a figure, an ice figure to be exact.

The team walked towards it, and as they got closer, they noticed that something was frozen in the ice. It was a young girl, completely upright with her arms crossed protectively over her chest, her hands resting on her petite shoulders. Dark green hair framed her small face, and she was dressed in a simple black dress. She looked to be around 16 or 17.

"Is that Setsu? The girl they were talking about?" Lucy asked, coming to a standstill in front of the ice figure.

"It should be," Erza replied, "So it's true then? She's the one causing these nightmares?"

"Only one way to find out," Natsu grinned, and, with a giant leap into the air, he raised his fist, engulfing it in flames, " **Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!** "

He punched the ice figure, but the figure didn't sustain any damage other than a small crack at the side.

"It didn't work?" Natsu grumbled, slightly confused. Erza raised her hand as a signal for everyone to wait.

 _Crack._

A giant crack formed right in the center of the figure, before the ice smashed into smithereens, the tiny ice bits flying everywhere. The girl frozen inside was released, and she fell to the ground limply.

Gray caught her before she could hit the ground, lifting her up as he carried her away from the mess they created.

"Is she dead?" Happy asked, nudging the side of her face with his paw. Gray shook his head no, as the girl's chest rose and fell with her breaths, and though faint, he could hear the rhythmic thumping of her beating heart.

He settled her down gently on the ground, and the four mages gathered around her, eyes boring into her body as they scrutinized her.

"So what do we do now?"

"Look! That's her bullet wound!" Happy cried, pointing at the side of her stomach. There was a bloody hole at the left side of her ribcage, and surprisingly, it was still oozing blood.

"Why does it look so fresh? Didn't she get it 5 years ago?" Lucy asked, cringing away from the girl.

"She was frozen in ice. Maybe it froze time too," Erza pointed out.

"But she looks way older than 12. If it froze time, then she should still be 12, shouldn't she?" Gray said.

"Aye," Happy agreed.

"Let's focus on treating her wound first. She's losing a lot of blood!" Lucy pushed them aside, "Gray, Natsu. Look away."

The two boys stared at her, confused, "Why?"

"I'm going to have to remove her clothes to treat her wound. Turn around!" They blushed simultaneously, turning away with red faces.

"Erza! Help me get the bullet out," Lucy lifted up the dress, revealing the girl's pale white stomach. Blood was oozing out of the wound continuously, and Lucy let out a curse.

Erza grabbed a few bandages from her pack, laying it aside before squeezing the wound in an attempt to get the bullet out. Lucy flinched away from the gore, but helped nevertheless.

"Now, what do we do with her? And how are we supposed to get out of this place?" Lucy asked, sitting back while Erza bandaged the girl up.

"I guess we can bring her back to the guild with us. She can use magic, right?" Gray pointed out, his back still facing the unconscious girl.

It was then that a small groan escaped the girl, stirring slightly as she raised her hand to cover her face. She opened her eyes, revealing shocking gold irises as she sat up, wincing.

She didn't seem to notice that she had company, as she held a hand up to her head to relieve her pounding headache. It took a while for her to realize she wasn't alone, but when she did, she backed up immediately, her eyes growing wide with fear.

Her small frame started trembling, her breaths coming out in short, shallow rasps.

"Who are you?" she croaked, her throat hoarse from the many years of not using her voice.

"We're mages from Fairy Tail," Lucy introduced, raising her hands up to indicate that they meant no harm.

"Fairy Tail? The guild?" she murmured, her brow furrowing in her confusion. "What are you doing here? Where's Cain? Where's…" she trailed off.

"You've been frozen in that ice figure for 5 years," Gray nodded towards the shattered ice, and her eyes dawned with realization.

"Ice…" she trailed off, her eyes narrowing, "Fucking bastard."

The four mages backed up a bit at her sudden change in attitude, as she murmured vulgarities to herself, seemingly frustrated by whatever she had just found out.

"He froze me in that shit for 5 years? Wow, thanks a lot, _dad._ Oh, just because his daughter can use magic, he goes and shoots her in the stomach and freezes her in a fucking ice block? What a -"

Gray cleared his throat, cutting her off as her head snapped up as she suddenly snapped back into reality. "Oh…Sorry about that," she grinned, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

"Wait…so the man who shot you and froze you was your dad?" Natsu clarified. The girl gave a simple nod, getting up from the ground, running her fingers through her hair.

"Yea, my dad hates me," she muttered, and for a moment, Gray saw something flash in her eyes. It was fear, the terror the bartender had told them he had seen on her face 5 years ago.

"Well, thanks a lot for freeing me. Follow me, I'll get you guys out of here," she winced slightly as she started walking, and her knees buckled, giving out as she crumpled to the ground.

"Ouch," she groaned, while Natsu and Happy guffawed at her. With a frustrated huff, she got up on her feet again, walking unsteadily forwards.

"Hey…Do you need help?" Gray sweat dropped as the girl swayed unsteadily.

"No. I can walk just fine. See?" she grumbled as she tried walking forwards again, stumbling and swaying like a drunkard.

Natsu and Happy laughed harder, pointing at her as they rolled on the floor laughing idiotically.

"Get on," Gray said as he crouched down in front of her, stifling a laugh. She sent a glare at him, stubbornly trying to walk forward with her weak legs. She failed, yet again as she fell on her bottom.

Gray raised an eyebrow at her, smirking. Rolling her eyes, the girl stood up and crawled onto his back, wrapping her thin arms around his neck reluctantly.

The ice mage stood up, slightly surprised by her light weight as he walked forward steadily. The girl rested her chin on his shoulder, before she opened her mouth, "Hey, what's your name?"

"Gray," he replied as his teammates followed behind him, "Gray Fullbuster."

"I'm Natsu Dragneel," the fire mage grinned, walking beside Gray.

"I'm Happy!" the blue cat introduced enthusiastically, raising his little paw high up in the air.

"That's a nice name," she smiled at the cat.

"I'm Lucy Heartfilia."

"Erza Scarlet."

"I'm Setsu," the girl replied, her arms tightening around Gray's neck. "Hey, ice mage. You see that wall there?"

Gray nodded, walking towards the wall she nodded to.

"How did you know Gray was an ice mage? He didn't tell you that," Erza asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion at Setsu.

"He feels cold. Like my dad. My dad's an ice mage, too. That's how he froze me," Setsu replied, smiling softly at Erza.

"Oh…Sorry for suspecting you like that," Erza mumbled, her head lowering. Setsu shook her head, signaling that she didn't mind it, but Erza couldn't help but feel slightly apologetic. Maybe she had come across as too harsh; the girl had just gotten out of an ice block she had been frozen in for 5 years, after all.

The team stopped as they reached the wall, and Setsu unwrapped one arm from around Gray's neck, pointing to a part of the wall. "Touch that," she said, and Happy flew towards the spot, pressing his paw against it.

There was a low rumble, and the wall parted, giving way to a stairwell. Lucy and Natsu gaped in amazement as they made their way up the stairs, coming up to a small bedroom.

It was dusty, and considerably messy. Clothes and books were thrown everywhere, the white bed at the side of the room unmade. Stationaries and books were strewn across the desk, crumpled paper everywhere.

"Sorry about the mess. It's my room. Looks like the villagers didn't decide to get rid of my stuff," Setsu laughed sheepishly.

She directed them out of her room, and out of her house. They opened her front door to the streets, and walked out.

"Hey, why does that staircase lead up to your room?" Lucy asked, as they made their way back to the fountain.

"Oh, I discovered it actually. It was just pure chance when I found a trapdoor in the middle of my bedroom, and I found that hall that we were in just now. I noticed that it was connected to the bottom of the fountain as well, so I created a mechanism at the side of the fountain just in case. I spent a lot of time in that hall, actually. It was a great place to practice magic."

"That day when I was shot, I managed to get the mechanism at the side of the fountain before I fell in. My father managed to find me though, through the trapdoor of my room and froze me."

There was a short, awkward silence as the team made their way through the quiet streets.

"Hey, Setsu. Do you know what type of magic I use?" Natsu grinned, changing the topic.

"Nope. What?" she asked, leaning forward on Gray's back.

"Guess, guess!"

"Gimme a clue!" she laughed, thrashing around on Gray's back. Gray tightened his hold on her to make sure she didn't fall as he chuckled at her enthusiasm.

"It's an element," Lucy winked.

"Let me touch you," she ordered, reaching forwards towards Natsu. Gray cringed slightly at the misleading words.

Once her hand made contact with his skin, she grinned victoriously, settling back comfortably on Gray's back, "Fire."

Natsu smirked, igniting his fists with flames while Setsu stared in wonder.

"How about me? Guess what type of magic I use," Lucy smiled, walking in front of Setsu.

Setsu frowned, her head tilting slightly as she scrutinized the blonde. She didn't seem very fit, and she didn't come across as very intimidating either.

"You're a celestial wizard, aren't you?" she grinned as Lucy stared at her, dumbfounded.

"How did you know?" she gasped.

"Cause' you don't seem very fit. It was a lucky guess, really," Setsu replied, "But I don't know about you."

Her gold eyes settled on Erza as she squinted at her. Setsu didn't have a clue as to what type of magic Erza used.

"Can you give me a clue?" she asked, and the redhead shook her head firmly.

"I'll give you a clue! Erza's magic is really pretty! Her opponent's blood goes everywhere!" Happy grinned, munching on a fish.

Setsu paled, as she stared at the armored wizard in horror.

"I use Magic Swords, requipping magic," Erza smiled as she drew out her sword and turned it into a spear.

"So you're a Magic Knight?" Setsu gasped in wonder, her eyes practically gleaming.

"Magic Knights usually fight by requipping different weapons. But Erza increased her own abilities, and can fight while requipping different magic armor as well!" Happy smiled.

"I'll show you another time if you want to see," Erza smiled.

Setsu opened her mouth to reply, before she was cut off by a familiar voice.

"Setsu?"

Her head snapped up, as her eyes locked onto the familiar bartender who stood just outside his bar, his eyes wide as he stared at her.

"Cain!" she leaped off Gray's back, trying to run towards her friend before she fell flat on her face, her legs giving out under her.

The mages sweat dropped simultaneously as she twitched on the ground. Cain rushed to her side, picking her up by the shoulders and lifting her up off the ground.

She hung in the air like a rag doll, before Cain starting shaking her violently.

"Setsu! I thought you were dead!" Cain cried, as Setsu tried to stop his vigorous shaking.

"C-C-Ca-Cain," she groaned, but by the time he stopped shaking her, she lay limply in his grip, her soul drifting off.

"You killed her!" Happy cried, flying over to Setsu, "Setsu! Wake up!" The girl recovered almost immediately, jumping up on her feet before collapsing again. Using her arms, she comically dragged herself towards Gray, climbing back up his back like a koala.

She passed out yet again, her head resting limply on his shoulder as the rest of the team panicked, thinking that she was dead.

But that was when a loud snore escaped her mouth, and Lucy's jaw dropped, "ASLEEP?!"

It was a wonder how she fast she had fallen asleep in that situation, and Natsu and Happy rolled on the floor, laughing at the strange girl.

It was the day after the incident. The villagers didn't suffer from any nightmares that night, and Setsu set off with the team of mages back to Magnolia, having decided that she wanted to join the guild.

They were halfway through their journey and Setsu was settled comfortably on Gray's back yet again. After years of not using her legs, her legs were extremely weak, and she could only walk for a small distance before her legs would give out.

"Hey, Setsu," Natsu started.

"Hm?"

"What type of magic do you use?"

The girl sighed, and her eyes dulled slightly, as though hesitant to tell them, "It's complicated – I don't even know what type of magic it is myself."

Gray raised an eyebrow, "You don't know what type of magic you use? That's dumb."

Setsu smacked him lightly on the back of his head with a huff, "Yea, I know. But it's true. Unlike people who train to wield magic, I was born with it. I never knew why or how. My parents didn't know why either."

"I guess you can say I control negative energies. When my mother was pregnant with me, she had horrible nightmares every night. It continued after I was born, and my father started suffering from them too. I learned how to control it as I got older, so that nobody got any nightmares, but I guess I couldn't control it when my father froze me, so that's why the villagers started suffering from those nightmares."

"But I usually can control it from escaping my body and affecting the people around me. Even if I can't, it only affects people when they're asleep, because they're in a vulnerable state, and the magic gets to their heads easily."

"I learned how to channel it out directly, and found out that I can manipulate spiritual energy."

"Spiritual energy? You mean like my celestial spirits?" Lucy asked, her eyes widening in surprise.

"No, not those spirits. I control the dead, spirits of those who've passed on. It was kind of creepy when I started seeing things that others couldn't see, but I got used to it."

Lucy and Happy cringed in horror. "The dead?" Lucy chorused, her voice cracking slightly in her fear.

Setsu let out a light laugh, "Yea, there's a few around us right now actually."

Lucy screamed, her hands flying up comically as she darted behind Setsu, her eyes darting left and right as she tried to figure out where the ghosts were.

"That's creepy," Gray muttered, and Setsu tightened her grip on his neck, strangling him. The ice mage choked, hitting her arms to try to get her off, but she didn't relent until his face started turning blue from the lack of oxygen.

"So I guess you can say I'm sort of like you," Setsu smiled at Lucy, "The spirits help me when I fight, they fight alongside me as my comrades."

"You said something about controlling negative energy around us, didn't you?" Erza asked, her face thoughtful as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yea, it's actually really under-handed, so I don't really like to use it much," Setsu rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "You see, everybody has negative energy. Maybe a fear, or a painful memory. I can channel my powers to make someone relive their fears or their bad memories."

Erza nodded in understanding, before Natsu cut in, "Hey, if you don't mind me asking, why was your dad trying to kill you?"

Setsu stiffened, and her breath hitched. There was a short silence as the team of mages stared at her expectantly, waiting for her response.

"I was hoping you wouldn't ask that. You see, at first, when my parents found out about my powers, they wanted to kill me. But I guess they decided not to, probably because they couldn't bear to kill their own child. After I gained control of my powers, things got better and they started treating me normally, like a part of their family."

"But there was one night when I lost control. I don't even remember what triggered it, but I lost control of my powers. It was only one night, but the nightmare I gave my mother drove her to suicide. My dad was hell-bent on trying to kill me after that, so I ran away, to this village."

There was an awkward silence after she finished, as Natsu rubbed the back of his head, feeling slightly apologetic for asking her that question. But a part of him knew that he wasn't wrong to ask, because if she was going to join the guild, they had to make sure she wasn't a threat.

The silence continued, nobody really knowing what to say to lighten the tense situation.

But Setsu lightened it up herself, by opening her mouth and asking, "By the way, ice mage, where the hell are your clothes?"


	2. Chapter 2

The doors to the guild burst open with a resounding bang, and the five mages walked in casually, Happy flying over their heads.

Setsu felt slightly uneasy. She had heard so much about Fairy Tail. Though hearing about other guilds such as Blue Pegasus or Lamia Scale, she had always felt that Fairy Tail was the guild that appealed to her the most, for reasons she herself did not know.

She had always wondered what it would be like to join a magic guild, and she had actually planned to join Fairy Tail when she first ran away from her home. However, she had no idea how to get to Magnolia and therefore decided to seek refuge at Old Mill Village for the time being.

She was definitely lucky to have met Natsu and the others. They intrigued her, and she felt that maybe Fairy Tail would be the place that she would finally be able to fit in, and learn to appreciate her powers.

Although when they first walked into the guild, Setsu was already questioning the sanity of the members of the guild, for they were in the middle of a brawl. Men were stripping, shouting at the top of their lungs while they beat each other up, chairs and tables were flying everywhere as well, and Setsu just stood there, dumbfounded as Gray and Natsu joined in the brawl.

She let out a small squeak of terror as a man flew over her head, barely missing her as she crouched down, her eyes wide.

"Oh, a newcomer?" a voice sounded from behind her, and Setsu turned cautiously. There stood a beautiful woman, long, white hair framing her voice as she smiled kindly.

"I'm Mirajane," she smiled welcomingly, her head tilting slightly.

Setsu opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Gray crashing into her full force. She fell back, and saw Natsu waving a pair of underwear in the air.

Setsu's face morphed from an expression of confusion to one of horror as she turned slowly, dreading what she was going to see. Gray stood stark naked right in front of her, and she screamed, jumping up and smacking him at the back of his head.

"Put on your clothes!" she screeched, her hands flying up to cover her eyes.

"Oh, Setsu. Could you lend me your underwe -" Gray started, and Setsu screamed yet again, grabbing a chair and smacking him right in the face, sending the ice mage flying.

All of a sudden, she was lifted off her feet and into somebody's arms. Looking up, she realized she was being held by a handsome man with orange hair and blue shades.

"Are these indelicate oafs causing you trouble?" he winked. A punch was sent to his face, and he fell to the ground with a cry, dropping Setsu in the process.

"Men talk with their fists!" a tanned and muscular man shouted out. He was pushed out of the way by Natsu, "You're in the way!" with a resounding "Aye!" from Happy.

Setsu sighed, just wanting to get away from all the chaos by huddling away in a corner.

Mirajane joined her with a smile, and a pulsing bump on her head. "Do you want an introduction of everyone?"

Setsu nodded, finding herself returning the smile.

"Let's start with Cana," Mirajane started, gesturing to a lady who sat casually at the bar with a cup of wine, "Cana Alberona, the biggest drinker in all of Fairy Tail." Setsu let out a squeak of surprise as Cana held up a gigantic barrel of alcohol at drank it directly from there.

"That's Elfman, my little brother," Mirajane moved on, pointing the the tanned and muscular man Setsu had seen earlier on, "He'll solve any kind of job with only his fists. He's a hyper-muscled wizard."

Mirajane smiled fondly at her brother, before moving on to the orange haired wizard who had tried to flirt with Setsu. He sat at the side, his arms wrapped around two girls with an arrogant smile plastered on his face.

"That's Loke. He's high up on the list of 'Most Eligible Wizards'."

As Mirajane continued introducing the members of the guild, Setsu noticed Cana getting up, annoyed as she pulled out a magic card.

Gray got up as well, a magic circle forming around his fists as he prepared his ice attack.

Elfman raised his arm, a purple magic ring swirling around it as his arm morphed into an arm made of rock.

Natsu ignited his flames as well, shouting a threat as he prepared his attack.

"T-They're going to fight using magic?" Setsu stammered, utterly horrified. "Aye!" Happy replied.

That was when a loud crash resounded throughout the guild, stopping everyone in their tracks. Setsu raised her head, peering up. A large black giant stood over 10 feet tall, towering over the guild members menacingly.

"STOP THIS, YOU FOOLS!" it thundered. Complete silence lingered in the air as everybody was frozen stiff, and Mira jane's voice rang loud and clear over the silence.

"Oh, you were here, Master?"

"Master?!" Setsu squeaked as the giant responded "Un!"

An annoying laugh sounded through, this time from the Dragon Slayer Natsu as he placed his hands on his hips, laughing arrogantly at his guild, "Everybody's scared stiff! Victory is mi -"

He was cut off when he was squashed under the giant's foot, his head peeking out from under as his soul drifted out of his body comically. The giant turned its attention to Setsu, "Eh? A new recruit?"

The guild started trembling as the giant let out a roar, morphing his body. Setsu watched in utter shock and horror as the giant shrunk, and shrunk, and shrunk some more, until it revealed a tiny old man who greatly resembled a dwarf.

Setsu stared, completely blown away as to how that ginat had turned into someone so tiny.

"Glad to have you on board!" the tiny old man grinned, raising his hand enthusiastically.

"This is Fairy Tail's guild master, Makarov-san," Mirajane smiled. Master turned, before jumping up, high above the ground and landing on the second floor railing, turning to face the guild.

"You've done it again, you rascals!" he shouted, addressing the guild, "Look at all this paperwork the council sent me! They're all complaints!"

He pulled out a large stack of papers from behind his back, shaking it to emphasize his point.

"All you fools do is make the council angry at me!" the tiny old man started shaking in anger and frustration, and some of the guild members lowered their heads in shame and guilt.

"However…" Setsu gasped as he ignited the stack of papers he had in his hands on fire, "Screw the council!"

He tossed the ball of flame away, and Natsu leaped, greatly resembling a frog as he caught the fire in his mouth and ate it.

"Listen up! Magic is an unreasonable power, but it is born from reason! It is not some miraculous ability. It is the combination of the spirit that flows within us and the spirit that flows within nature itself, incarnated into physical form. It takes a strong mind and focus. In fact, magic is the pouring out of one's entire soul."

"One cannot progress in the way of magic by being mindful of the watchful eye from above! Do not be afraid of those fools from the council, and follow the path you believe in! That's what it means to be a Fairy Tail wizard!"

He raised his arm, his thumb and index finger pointing out, symbolling the sign of Fairy Tail as the guild cheered below him, raising their hands with the same symbol.

Setsu raised her hand with a loud cheer as well, feeling a great sense of respect for her new Master and her new guild.

Setsu let out a sigh of content as she relaxed into the bath. She couldn't believe her luck. Her hand unconsciously reached for her back, she had become an official Fairy Tail wizard, and she bore the sign proudly on her left upper back.

She had got it in the color black, though plain and lacking creativity, she liked the color black the most, and besides, she didn't like to stand out too much.

Besides that, Lucy also offered to be roommates, and Setsu had agreed immediately. She had just finished unpacking her things, and she had to admit that she really liked the house.

Though she also had to admit that the blonde was extremely talkative, _too_ talkative, in fact. Lucy had been rambling on and on about her previous mission with Gray, Erza, Natsu and Happy.

It was something about the guild Eisenwald, and something about a Lullaby. While Setsu had been interested at first, she lost interest midway from Lucy's long-windedness, and though she liked the blonde, sometimes she just wished that she would just be quiet and let Setsu enjoy peace.

Setsu got up, realizing that she had been in the bath for much too long as she dried herself off, glancing at her red face in the mirror. She changed into another plain black dress, identical to the one she had worn before.

Her wardrobe was full of plain black dresses, just because Setsu never really had a knack for fashion, and to her, plain and black was always the best.

She emerged from the bathroom, drying her hair as she did.

"Lucy?" she called out softly, walking towards Lucy's room. She saw the blonde at her desk, writing furiously. _Probably a diary entry,_ Setsu thought, turning away to leave before something caught her attention.

Or more specifically, _someone._ Setsu sweat dropped as a half-naked Gray waved at her from Lucy's couch. As she opened her mouth to ask if Lucy knew he was there, he beat her to it, "Rent this place for 70,000 jewels? That's really cheap. You found yourself a nice place, Lucy!"

Setsu chuckled as Lucy's eyes bulged out of their sockets in shock, "Trespassing!"

She jumped, delivering a hard kick to his chest, "And don't strip in other people's homes!"

Setsu clutched her stomach, doubling over with laughter.

"Hold it! It's a misunderstanding!" Gray shouted, raising his arms to defend himself, "I was already naked when I arrived."

Setsu laughed even harder as Lucy pointed to the front door, "Leave."

Gray turned to face Setsu, a smirk plastered on his face. He had to admit she looked adorable laughing like that. Placing a hand on her head, he ruffled her damp hair fondly.

"Today's the day, remember? I figured you'd forget so I came to get you," Gray addressed Lucy as Setsu stared at him, confused.

"You too," he smirked at Setsu and she smiled softly.

"Huh?" Lucy asked, confused.

"Yup, you forgot. Natsu said so before we left, right? Natsu and Erza are fighting!"

Lucy, Setsu and Gray made their way through the cheering crowd.

"W-Wait, they were serious?!" Lucy cried. Natsu and Erza faced each other, their gazes intense as they stared each other down.

"Oh! Hi, Lucy, Setsu!" Mirajane smiled.

"Serious as can be! If they don't take this seriously, they can't call themselves men!" Elfman commented behind his sister.

"Erza's a woman, you know," Mirajane pointed out.

"More like a female monster," Macao said.

"But if two people in the strongest team clash…" Lucy trailed off.

"Strongest team? What're you talking about?" Gray asked beside Setsu.

"You, Natsu and Erza, duh! You're the top three in Fairy Tail, right?" Lucy snapped, slightly frustrated.

"Huh? That's just dumb, who told you that?" Gray scoffed. Mirajane stood still for a while, processing what Gray had just said, before she rushed to a corner, sobbing.

"Oh, it was Mira-chan…" Gray laughed apologetically, raising his hands in an attempt to calm her down.

"You made her cry!" Lucy accused.

"I do recognize Natsu and Gray's manly spirit, but I wouldn't go calling them the strongest. There's a ton more strong people in Fairy Tail," Elfman said, "Like me!"

"Erza probably _is_ the strongest woman, though," Levy pointed out, walking up to the group with Jet and Droy close behind her.

Jet tipped his hat lightly, "If you're talking about the strongest man, it's probably Mystogan or Laxus."

"How about Gildarts? I've heard a lot about him in the past…" Setsu asked, her head tilting slightly.

"Oh…yea…he's definitely the strongest…" Jet trailed off, his face paling slightly at the thought of the man.

"I just thought that Natsu, Gray and Erza worked the best together," Mirajane sobbed.

Lucy stood at the back, a strange expression on her face, "Oh? Weren't you saying how you were always worried about how Gray and Natsu would always fight when Erza wasn't around?"

"Regardless, I think this'll be an interesting battle," Elfman smirked.

"Really? I expect Erza to win easily," Gray commented.

"Oh, we can bet on the winner?" Setsu asked, noticing Cana sitting in front of a bucket full of money, with a large board behind her, that said: 'ODDS: NATSU OR ERZA'

"Yup, don't bet on Natsu though," Gray smirked down at her.

"How many years has it been since we've pitted our magic head to head like this?" Erza said, a light smile on her face.

"I was just a kid then," Natsu retorted, "Things would be different this time! Today's the day! I'm going to beat you!"

"I don't plan on holding back," Erza smiled as she started to glow. "It's been a while since I truly tested my own abilities!"

Her armor started to glow, and shattered off in pieces. Her body turned, and she bent over, her back arching as her armor changed. It was a red and orange armor, greatly resembling flames. Her hair was tied up in two pigtails, her gaze intense.

"Flame Empress Armor! That armor resists fire!"

"Natsu's flames effectiveness are halved!"

"Erza, that's going too far!"

Happy stood in front of Cana, his expression thoughtful.

"Yea, I'm betting on Erza after all. That okay?" the cat handed a bill over to Cana.

"What a heartless cat!" Lucy commented, seemingly shocked at how the cat didn't end up betting on his best friend, "I don't like this thing! I don't want either one to lose!"

"You're unexpectedly innocent, aren't you?" Gray pointed out.

"Flame Empress Armor?" Natsu smirked, crouching down as he got ready his attack, "If that's the case, I guess I'll have to go full power, no holding back!"

There was a loud 'DING' and Master's, "Begin!" and the two flew at each other mercilessly. Natsu aimed for a punch to her stomach, but Erza dodged it, simultaneously swinging her blade, leaving a path of flames heading straight for Natsu's head. He dodged as well, and as Erza flew towards him, he blew out a torrent of flames from his mouth, aimed straight for her, but she leaped out of the way yet again.

Natsu wasted no time in preparing his next attack, as Erza swung her blade at the same time. Just before the two attacks could collide, a resounding 'CLANG' interrupted them, and they stopped in their tracks.

They turned, looking for the source of the noise and a frog, dressed in a purple cape, waltzed up to them casually.

"That's enough," she said, "Everyone stay where they are."

Murmurs echoed through the crowd, their judging stares aimed directly at the strange frog.

"It's a frog," Setsu deadpanned, sweat dropping.

"I am a messenger from the Council. Stemming from the recent Eisenwald incident, we hereby charge you with 11 counts of criminal property damage. Erza Scarlet, you are hereby under arrest."

There was a short silence where everyone processed her words, before they screamed simultaneously, "EHHHH?!"

The guild, for once, was quiet. They were confused, sad and frustrated that one of them had gotten arrested, and, needless to say, the guild already felt empty with the absence of the red haired wizard.

"Let me out! Let me out of here!" Natsu cried, pounding on the glass. He had been turned into a gecko, in order to keep him from going after Erza. An overturned glass cup was what contained him.

"Natsu, quiet down," Mirajane sighed.

"Let me out!"

"You'll just go on a rampage if we let you out."

"No I won't! So turn me back!"

"If I do that, you'll go to rescue her, right?"

"No, I won't! Who cares about Erza anyway!" Natsu growled.

"It's the Council we're dealing with here. This one's out of our hands," Gray muttered, his arms crossed over his thankfully clothed chest.

"Let me out! I have something I want to say! Council or no Council, those guys were the bad ones!" Natsu snapped.

"If you're innocent but the Council says you're guilty, then you're guilty. You seriously think they'd listen to us?" Gray replied.

Elfman sighed, his head resting on his arm, "But we've done all that stuff before…Why this time?"

Laki agreed beside him, "Yeah, it's hard to understand."

"There's got to be…Got to be something behind it!" Lucy insisted, her head resting on the table. Silence fell over them yet again, before Lucy stood up, frustrated, "I can't just stay here. Let's go testify on her behalf!"

"No, wait!" Master ordered, his voice firm.

"What are you talking about? This arrest is an injustice. Once they decide on a verdict, it'd be too late!" Lucy growled.

Master remained calm, his eyes closed, "It doesn't matter how fast we go, if we leave now, we won't make it in time."

As Lucy opened her mouth to respond, she was interrupted by Natsu's complaints, "Let me out! Let me out now!" The Natsu Gecko jumped furiously in the cup, trying to get out.

"You really want to get out?" Master raised an eyebrow knowingly, and Natsu quietened, scratching at his cheek sheepishly.

The guild members stared at him questioningly at his strange reaction. Setsu cocked her head slightly, her eyes squinting. _Wait…_ she thought, before her eyes widened in shock, _That isn't –_

"What's wrong, Natsu? You suddenly run out of steam?" Master asked, sarcasm prominent in his voice. With a grunt, he pointed his index finger at the gecko, a zap of magic shooting out and hitting the cup.

There was a poof, and smoke, before it cleared to reveal Macao.

"M-Macao?!" Levy cried in shock.

"EH?! BUT HOW?!" the rest of the guild cried out. Macao laughed sheepishly, getting up from the ground and rubbing the back of his head, "S-Sorry…I owed Natsu one. In order to pose as Natsu, I transformed myself into a gecko."

"So then, where's the real Natsu?" Lucy questioned, shocked.

"Don't tell me he went after Erza," Gray groaned.

"Yeah, probably," Macao smiled apologetically.

"You've got to be kidding me! That guy might actually try to punch a council member," Elfman growled.

"SILENCE, ALL OF YOU," Master snapped, "We will wait patiently for the results."

The guild was rowdy yet again with the return of Natsu and Erza. Setsu sipped on a cup of beer as she smiled fondly at Natsu running hysterically around the guild in circles, "Ah! The sweet smell of freedom! Just smell it, yes! Who knew freedom was so great!"

Some of the guild members complained about his noisiness, and told him to shut up, but the Dragon Slayer paid no attention to them as he continued.

"This is what makes him so loveable," Mirajane smiled.

"So it was an arrest just for show…And I was so worried," Lucy mumbled, her body slumped on the table.

"Are all the Council Members frogs too?" Setsu asked, straying off the topic.

"I see! She's a scapegoat but not a sacrificial lamb!" Gray pounded his fist on his palm in realization.

"You're an ice wizard, alright. That joke gave me the chills," Elfman sweat dropped beside him, "So, what about your man to man battle with Erza, Natsu?"

The pink haired wizard stopped in his tracks, his eyes widening with excitement as he turned to face Erza, "Oh yeah, I forgot! Erza, let's continue from where we left off!"

"No, I'm tired," she replied, sipping on her cup of tea leisurely. Natsu ignored her, running towards her, his fists ignited with his flames, "Here I come!"

"What am I to do with you?" Erza sighed, standing up and delivering a simple, but hard punch to Natsu's gut. The boy stilled, his eyes massive, before he fell to the ground groaning, taken out for the count.

"Ah well, shall we begin?" Erza asked, dusting her hands off while the rest of the guild members' jaws dropped in astonishment.

"It's over!" Happy cheered, as they peered over at Natsu's twitching form on the ground. Elfman and Gray guffawed, "Lame, Natsu!", "Erza's stronger, that's for sure!"

Setsu giggled slightly, before a strange groggy feeling came over her. Her eyes drooped sleepily, her mind foggy. _I'm falling asleep?_ She thought, _But that's not possible, I can't sleep._ Panic rose in her as she glanced at her friends, who were falling asleep as well. _It's some sort of spell, someone is casting a spell to make us fall asleep._

After all, it was near impossible to make the girl fall asleep. When Setsu was unconscious, her magic would leak out and cause nightmares, just as it did in Old Mill Village. She had learnt to not fall asleep since young, and though difficult, she had managed to adapt to it.

So, as weird as it sounded, Setsu didn't sleep. And she wasn't planning to this time either. She couldn't do that to her new friends after all that they had done for her. Setsu shook her head, trying to shake off the spell, but to no avail.

"Master," she mumbled, her voice groggy, "Help…Can't…Sleep…"

The old man, seemingly unaffected by the spell, looked over at her knowingly and snapped his fingers. The spell was lifted slightly, though not completely, it was enough for Setsu to remain conscious. Setsu sat upright, looking around for the source of the spell.

Master shook his head at her, signaling for her to keep her head down, and Setsu obliged just as she felt a new presence enter the guild. She could hear his footsteps as he drew closer

"Mystogan," she heard Master mumble sleepily. She recognized the name, having remembered Jet mentioning him during Natsu's battle with Erza. Though she had also heard that nobody has ever seen his face, just because he didn't want them to, and only the Master knew what he looked like.

She heard a rustle of papers as Mystogan ripped a job offer from the Request Board.

"I'm off," he said, his voice deep and masculine as Setsu heard his footsteps draw nearer as he headed towards the door.

"Hey, aren't you going to undo the sleeping spell?" Master mumbled.

Mystogan didn't reply, and Setsu heard him stop right beside her. He placed a gentle hand on her head, and Setsu opened her mouth, her eyes still squeezed shut, "Sorry, I can't afford to fall asleep. I didn't see your face, don't worry. Oh, um, I'm Setsu. I'm new here. Sorry to intrude."

It was strange how she was introducing herself with her face pressed against her arms on the table. Though she yearned to open her eyes to take a look at this mysterious man, she knew that she had to respect him, and he probably had a pretty good reason to hide his face from the guild members.

 _Like what?_ A voice inside her head scoffed, _Too shy?_

Setsu brushed the thoughts off, as she felt him pet her head gently, filling her with assurance as she relaxed under his touch. With that, he walked away, "Five." He counted down, "Four. Three. Two. One."

At the count of one, he walked out of the door, his footsteps fading away as he disappeared. The guild members woke up simultaneously, looking around in confusion.

"T-This feeling…Was Mystogan here?" Jet mumbled.

"That bastard…" Droy cursed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"As always, he uses such powerful magic," Levy sighed.

Lucy's eyes drooped, still tired from the spell. "Mystogan?" she mumbled, half-asleep.

"One of the strongest men in Fairy Tail," Elfman answered.

"He does this because he doesn't like other people to see his face. When he comes to take a job, he always puts everyone to sleep like this," Gray continued.

"What's with that? That's so suspicious," Lucy commented.

Gray turned to look at Master, "That's why no one other than Master knows what he looks like."

"No, I know what he looks like," a new voice joined in the conversation, and Setsu jolted, slightly shocked at the unexpected voice. She looked up at the second floor, her eyes landing on a buff man. He was blonde, his hair spiked up edgily. A lightning shaped scar ran down his right eye, and he wore headphones of some sort, with spikes pointing out of them.

An arrogant smirk was plastered on his face as he looked down on the guild with an amused huff.

"Laxus!"

"You were here?"

"That's rare."

The guild members walked up, swarming below him.

"Another one of the strongest," Gray introduced, his eyes locked on Laxus. Lucy gasped, her interest peaked as she stood upright to get a better look of him.

"Mystogan's shy. Keep your noses out of it," Laxus smirked. Natsu jolted awake at his voice, as he shouted, "Laxus! Fight me!"

Setsu sighed. Only Natsu would want to fight one of the strongest wizards in the guild when he just woke up, _and_ when he had just lost a match to Erza moments ago.

"You were just beaten by Erza a second ago!" Gray voiced her thoughts, as Setsu nodded in agreement next to him.

"That's right! If you can't even beat Erza, there's no way you could beat me," Laxus said arrogantly as the armored wizard's face darkened, her voice full of rage, "What are you implying?"

"That I am the strongest," Laxus replied, spreading his arms out. Setsu frowned, annoyance rolling off her in waves as she glared at the blond, an irk mark on her forehead. It was probably the first time she had built up so much dislike for someone she had just met seconds ago.

"Then get down here and prove it, jerk!" Natsu growled.

"How about you come up here?" Laxus cocked a brow.

"Fine by me!" Natsu ran forward, jumping up towards the second level. Before he could reach, Master extended his arm, his fist growing till it was 5 times his size as he smashed Natsu to the ground, "You can't go upstairs. Not yet."

Setsu's frown deepened, confused.

Laxus chuckled, "Looks like you made him angry."

"Laxus, enough," Master growled warningly as Natsu struggled to get out under his fist.

"I'm not giving up my seat as the strongest in Fairy Tail for anyone. Not to Erza or Mystogan either. I am the strongest," Laxus ignored Master, his arrogance growing.

Setsu let out a scoff, her arms crossing over her chest as she puffed her cheeks in annoyance. Laxus raised an eyebrow.

"Setsu," he started, and she stiffened, surprised that he knew her name, "Got a problem?"

"Yeah, asshat," she growled, her annoyance getting the better of her as she stalked up. He jumped off the second floor, the guild members shuffling away for him to land.

Setsu stopped just in front of him, her face challenging as she glared, "You know, honey," she started, and Laxus's eyes widened slightly at the affectionate term. Setsu's glare hardened as she continued, "I'd like to see things from your point of view, but I can't seem to get my head that far up your ass."

Laxus backed away slightly in shock, before his expression morphed into one of pure anger. Lightning flashed around him as he stepped up yet again, expecting the shorter girl to retreat.

"Let me give you some advice," Setsu leaned in close to his ear, as if disclosing a secret, "Grasp your ears firmly and pull; you might just be able to remove your head from your ass."

Laxus let out a roar of rage, but before he could grab her, Setsu leaped away with a laugh, her hands behind her back as she avoided his attacks casually, jumping and somersaulting in the air.

The guild members were absolutely stunned; staring at the young girl who they once thought was cute and innocent.

But the girl didn't seem to notice as she continued prancing around. She suddenly stopped, smiling softly at Laxus as he stopped his lightning attack, this time reaching out to grab her. She let herself fall, Laxus's arms wrapping around her waist as he swung her towards him.

The onlookers gasped in shock, Lucy crying out Setsu's name. Setsu twisted her body, grasping onto Laxus's shoulders and flipping herself over, escaping his grasp on her waist as she clung to his neck in a piggyback position.

She giggled, tightening her arms in some sort of hug as she leaped off, walking casually back to Gray. Laxus, surprisingly, didn't do anything about it, stalking back up the second floor in annoyance.

Setsu relaxed in her seat, ignoring the people around her who were frozen in shock, staring at her with their jaws wide open.

"S-Setsu…Do you know Laxus?" Gray stammered.

The girl raised her head, "No, why?"

"Th-Then why did you-how did-" he continued stammering as everybody looked at her, then to Laxus, then to Setsu again.

Before Laxus disappeared into the second floor, he turned to face her, "I like you."

There was a short silence before everyone chorused, their eyes bulging out of their sockets, "EHHHHH?!"

"Feeling's not mutual," Setsu teased, rolling her eyes with a soft smirk. She had been annoyed at him at first, and she had insulted him because of her annoyance, but when he started to attack her, she realized that he was just playing with her and therefore decided to play along. After all, if he claimed to be the strongest in Fairy Tail he would have shot her down on his first attack.

After playing with him, Setsu thought that maybe he wasn't that bad of a person, though she still didn't like his attitude.

Gray frowned slightly when he saw Setsu's smirk turn to a small, genuine smile. _Were she and Laxus in some sort of relationship?_ His frown deepened at the thought. He had to admit, he had grown some sort of interest in Setsu since the day they rescued her in Old Mill Village, and the thought of her being in a relationship with Laxus, or anyone else for that matter, upset him more than it should.

Setsu sat beside Lucy at the bar, her legs crossed as she finished her beer, nudging Mirajane's arm with the empty mug as a signal to have a refill.

"About what Master said before…How Natsu can't go up to the second floor. Why is that?" Lucy asked. Mirajane passed Setsu a full mug, and Setsu smiled gratefully.

"It's a bit early to talk to you about it, Lucy, Setsu," she answered, "But the second floor Request Board has jobs posted on it so difficult, they don't even compare to the ones on the first, S-Class Quests."

"S-Class?" Setsu echoed.

"These are jobs where the slightest mistake would mean death. Of course, the rewards are correspondingly high. Only wizards that Master approves of can take on S-Class Quests. If you include Erza, Laxus and Mystogan, then there are only 5 people who can do them."

"S-Class is not really something you should seek out. They're all jobs where you'd need a great number of lives!" Mirajane explained. Lucy nodded in understanding, moving off the topic as she continued to make small talk with Mirajane.

That was when Natsu and Happy caught her attention, and Lucy left her seat with them. Setsu remained in her seat, her brow furrowed as she chugged down her umpteenth mug of beer.

Handing her empty mug back to Mirajane for a refill, she let out a long sigh, finally feeling the beer taking its effect on her head.

Setsu wondered if she'd really be able to learn to appreciate her powers. Up till now, her powers had only proved to bring suffering, and though she did feel good by joining Fairy Tail and making new friends, it didn't change the fact that her powers only brought pain.

She couldn't bear the thought of hurting her friends, but she knew it was only a matter of time before another incident of her losing control of her powers would surface and bring suffering to her friends. She had already killed her mother; she couldn't bear to kill anyone else.

What was she even here for? If her powers only brought suffering, then why was she born? Why was she even in this guild? Her magic had never helped anyone before; it only caused pain and fear. Didn't that mean that she was just a burden to the guild? Wouldn't she be better off dead?

"Something on your mind?" Mirajane's voice snapped her back to reality as she passed Setsu yet another refill.

Setsu nodded her thanks, chugging it down in one shot. She felt the familiar burn down her throat and she let out a sigh, "Yeah. Nothing much, really. I'm fine."

Her words sounded unconvincing, even to Setsu herself. Mirajane looked slightly unsure as Setsu asked for another beer.

"Wait, never mind. You have vodka, right?" Setsu asked, her words slightly slurred. She was already slightly drunk, but Setsu wanted to get the thoughts out of her head. Besides, she knew it would take a lot more to get herself fully drunk, as she had drunk every single day at Cain's bar in Old Mill Village.

As Mirajane prepared her drink, she asked, "You want to talk about it?"

Setsu shook her head as Mirajane passed her a bottle of vodka and a small glass. "Nah, I told you. It's nothing much."

The girl pushed away the glass, as she drank directly from the bottle. "Ah, that hit the spot," she giggled, taking another swing.

"Hey, Setsu," Gray called, walking up to her. Setsu turned to face him, her eyebrow raised.

"You…" he trailed off when he noticed the bottle in her hands and her slightly flushed face, "Whoa, how much did you drink?"

"Cana has a competitor," Mirajane laughed, "She drank 27 mugs of beer, and she's halfway through her first bottle of vodka."

"Don't you need to go to the toilet?" Gray teased.

"Oh, now that you mention it, I do," Setsu replied, getting off her seat and chugging the rest of the vodka down, placing the empty bottle on the counter as she made her way to the toilet.

She wasn't that drunk, though slightly dizzy. Other than that, she was perfectly fine. After flushing the toilet, she got out to wash her hands at the sinks, all the while staring at her face in the mirror.

She was better off dead. She didn't want to burden anyone else, and to be honest, she still couldn't really enjoy life while living in fear of her father finding her. Why didn't he kill her? Why freeze her instead? Setsu groaned, clutching her head as a dull pain hammered in her skull rhythmically.

She made her way out of the toilet, bumping into Lucy.

"Oh, Setsu! I was looking for you. Let's go home, it's getting late," Lucy smiled.

Setsu nodded, forcing a smile. She really wasn't in the mood to listen to Lucy's ramblings, but she didn't want to be rude.

"I'll go get something from Mirajane first," she said as she made her way back to the bar. Gray was leaning on it, waiting for her.

"Setsu, I…" he said, before he trailed off, his face thoughtful. Setsu looked at him questioningly, waiting for him to continue. "I forgot!" he laughed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Setsu forced a smile again, and she caught a glimpse of his frown before she turned to address Mirajane.

"Mira-san, three bottles of vodka, please. I'm heading home," Setsu said, waiting patiently. Mirajane handed her the three bottles, and Setsu muttered a "Thanks" before turning to head back home with Lucy.

Before she could though, Gray caught hold of her arm. "Setsu…Are you okay?" His dark blue eyes bored into her gold ones. The girl stayed quiet for a while, before forcing a smile yet again, "I'm fine."

His eyes narrowed as he tightened his grip on her arm, "Don't give me that look."

"Setsu, we -" Lucy cut in, before stopping when she realized the atmosphere. Everybody stilled, their attention on the two who stood in the middle of the guild.

"Gray, I'm fine, really," Setsu choked out. Her voice was shaking, and even to her own ears, she didn't sound fine.

"Setsu, what's wrong?" he tugged on her arm firmly.

She didn't want him to pry. Setsu could already feel the tears building up, but she took a deep breath in, refusing to let them fall.

"Give it a rest, Gray," her voice had stopped shaking, and it came out harsher than she expected it to. He let go of her arm in slight surprise, and Setsu turned, grabbing Lucy's hand and walking out of the guild.


	3. Chapter 3

"Watch your step, miss!" a man called out good naturedly, and Setsu nodded at them in acknowledgement. Taking another swig from her bottle of vodka, she trudged along the path, kicking a single stone out of the way.

"I've heard of both Mystogan and Laxus before. Fairy Tail really is an amazing guild!" Lucy smiled. Setsu was grateful to Lucy for not bringing up what had happened at the guild, though it was quite evident from the curious glances she had casted at Setsu that she wanted to know.

"And I think I know how everyone ranks in power abut now," Lucy grinned foolishly as a chart appeared above her head. Setsu let out a small laugh, one that wasn't as forced as the ones before, "So you're on par with Natsu and Gray, huh?" she asked, playful sarcasm dripping in her tone.

Lucy gave Setsu a light nudge and huffed in annoyance. "I'm gonna work hard starting tomorrow!" Lucy cheered as they reached the house, Lucy opening the door cheerfully.

"Welcome home!" a familiar voice greeted. Lucy screamed, her eyes bulging out of their sockets in horror. Setsu simply laughed tiredly, raising a hand in greeting to Natsu, who currently occupied Lucy's bed, doing sit-ups with Happy beside him, lifting a dumbbell.

"You smell like a gym!" Lucy screamed, delivering a flying kick to the dragon slayer's face, successfully sending him flying across the room. "If you're gonna weight lift, do it in your own house!"

"What are you saying? We're a team, right? Here, you try!" Natsu innocently held out a pink barbell to the blonde. "You like pink, don't you, Lucy?" Happy added cheerfully.

"Sure, but I don't care about barbells!" Lucy retorted, her eyes still bulging in anger. "We've got to get more powerful if we're gonna defeat Erza and Laxus," Natsu insisted as he got down on the ground to do push-ups, his best friend following him with a loud "Aye,sir!"

"It doesn't matter to me, now leave!" Lucy sighed, obviously frustrated. Setsu settled down on the floor, staring at Natsu and Happy as they continued their push-ups. "We're gonna train all night!" Natsu ignored her, as the two increased their speed until they became a blur, making Setsu laugh and clap her hands in fascination.

"Someone save me!" Lucy cried. Natsu paused then, his voice deepening, taking on a serious tone. "I've decided."

Lucy glanced back at him questioningly, and Natsu looked up, a confident grin on his face. "Let's do an S-Class Quest, Lucy, Setsu!"

"S-Class!" Happy echoed dramatically, holding up a poster over his head. "How'd you get that?! I thought you couldn't go up to the second floor?!" Lucy cried, cringing away from the poster.

"We went up and took one!" Happy grinned. "C-Cat burglar!" Lucy accused as Natsu stepped up between them, "Well, it's our first time, so we picked the cheapest one. Even so, it's still 7 million jewel!"

"Just because it's the cheapest one doesn't mean that it's the least dangerous," Setsu pointed out, placing her now empty bottle next to the trash can in Lucy's room. Lucy nodded vigorously in agreement, "No way! We don't have permission to do an S-Class."

Natsu simply smiled, "If we do this right, then Gramps would have to recognize us." Setsu smiled fondly at him. She could more or less understand his determination to have the Master to recognize his talent, and despite the strange feeling at the pit of her stomach that warned her of impending danger, she wanted to help him whole-heartedly. Whether going along with him would be dangerous or not, she was fully prepared to face the dangers if it meant helping him get what he wanted. Natsu was the one who had saved her, after all.

"Okay, then. When are we setting off?" Sestu asked, smiling softly when Natsu's grin widened and Happy threw his paws up in victory. "You too, Setsu? Really, you guys are always doing crazy things like this," Lucy sighed, slumping into her chair, "At least follow the rules of your own guild."

"If I do that, I'll never get to go up to the second floor!" Natsu insisted. "Anyway, I can't go. You three enjoy yourselves."

"What's the mission about, Happy?" Setsu asked, walking forward to inspect the poster. "It's a job where we're supposed to save an island," Happy answered, still holding the poster up. "An island?"

"Galuna, the cursed island," Natsu and Happy mocked, their teeth turning sharp as their eyes narrowed evilly, an ominous aura surrounding them. Lucy cringed away, grabbing onto Setsu's arm and digging her nails into her flesh, "Now I'm definitely not going!"

"Even if I offer to give you half the fish?" Happy asked, the same expression on his face as he approached Lucy. "That's not an incentive!" Lucy screamed, swiping her hands at them as if to shoo them away.

"Tch. We're leaving, Setsu," Natsu huffed. "Aye." Setsu smiled, before rushing to her room and coming back in only moments after with a black luggage in hand. She had kept it packed beforehand so that she wouldn't have to rush with packing if she had to go for an urgent mission. Following Natsu and Happy to Lucy's window, she wrapped her arms around her luggage as she jumped off, feeling the wind brush against her flushed cheeks for a short moment, before landing gracefully on the ground below.

"Go cool your heads a little, sheesh. Hey! Leave using the door!" she heard Lucy shout behind Natsu and Happy as they jumped off behind her. Setsu chuckled softly, settling her luggage down gently beside her. "Lucy's so stubborn," Natsu pouted, making Setsu smile.

"She's going to join us soon, trust me," Setsu promised. Along with the 7 million jewel reward, she had noticed that the poster stated that one of the 12 Gold Gate Keys would be given as well. She had no doubt that Lucy would change her mind in 3, 2, 1…

"Setsu, Natsu, Happy! Wait!" Lucy screamed, making the three turn and grin victoriously.

* * *

The four arrived at the port city of Hargeon. They had travelled overnight, and Setsu followed after Lucy and Natsu tiredly, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Ooh, how nostalgic!" Lucy grinned, "This is where we all met, you know?" Natsu simply shrugged, "Nostalgic? It wasn't exactly that long ago."

"Lucy's like an old lady," Happy commented, before stifling a laugh with his paw as Setsu let out a soft laugh at the comparison. Lucy shot a sharp glare at the two, causing them to stop their laughter abruptly.

"Okay, first thing is to find a ship to take us to Galuna Island," Setsu said, changing the subject, ignoring Natsu's cry of horror behind her as she walked forward with Lucy. "A ship?! No way! Not a chance! We're swimming, got it?" Natsu argued. "That's even less a chance," Lucy sighed.

"Galuna Island? You've got to be kidding me. I'm not going anywhere near it," the sailor scoffed as his friend backed him up, "Give me a break! I don't want to hear the name!"

####

"We don't mention that island around this port," the man muttered.

"It's cursed, and it's a bad omen."

####

"I don't know why you want to go there, but there isn't any ship here that'll take you," another replied, "Even pirates avoid it."

"But…" Lucy protested weakly. They had asked several groups already, and had received the same response of shock and bewilderment, and a straight out refusal from each one of them.

"Then it's decided. We're swimming," Natsu smiled, obviously pleased by the fact that they were unable to find any ship that would take them to their destination. Setsu sighed, leaning against Natsu's arm tiredly. "That's not an option, Natsu."

" _Found you."_

Setsu screamed, her body lurching forwards with Natsu and Lucy as they backed away from the voice that had whispered in their ears. There stood a familiar dark haired ice mage, smirking in amusement at their responses.

"Gray?"

"What are you doing here?" Natsu asked, his eyes narrowing. "Orders from Gramps to take you back," Gray replied nonchalantly. Natsu's eyes bugged out of their sockets, his jaw dropping comically as Setsu stifled a laugh at his expression, "The jig's up already?!"

"If you go back now, you might even get away without being expelled. We're going back," Gray smiled. Lucy let out a cry of horror, "Expelled?!"

"As if!" Natsu scoffed, "I'm going on an S-Class Quest!" Gray argued back, his brows furrowing in frustration, "You don't have the skills to handle it! If Erza finds out about this, you'll…"

No words needed to be spoken as Setsu, Natsu, Happy and Lucy cringed, their faces paling in terror. "Gray, save me!" Happy cried, flying over to hide behind the ice mage's shoulder, "Those three forced me to come with them!"

"Happy?!" Setsu cried, bewildered at his betrayal. "You traitor!" Lucy accused. "I'm going to face Erza down!" Natsu growled, the determination evident in his tone as his eyes burned, "I'm not going to back down from this!"

"This is a direct order from the Master! I'm gonna bring you back by force if I have to!" Gray challenged. Setsu looked between the two, flinching slightly at Gray. She had not forgotten what had happened the previous night, and she hoped that he would play it off and pretend nothing had happened. But that was unlikely, from what she had learnt of his personality in the short time they had known each other for.

"Don't complain if you get hurt!" Gray smirked, his voice dragging Setsu out of her thoughts as ice formed around his fist. "You're on!" Natsu barked, his fist igniting with flames.

"M-Magic?" the sailor interrupted, causing the two mages to stop in their tracks, "Are you wizards?"

Setsu nodded silently, tilting her head in confusion. "Could you be here to lift the curse from the island?"

Setsu nodded again, and Natsu grinned, "Yeah!" Gray stepped up, his eye twitching in annoyance, "I won't let you go!"

"Get on board!" the sailor ignored Gray's words, gesturing to the small boat he was on. "Seriously?" Natsu asked, his eyes widening in excitement. Setsu smiled, slightly amused at Natsu's actions. If they were going to board the boat, it wouldn't be long before Natsu would lose his enthusiasm.

The Dragon Slayer let out an evil chuckle, one that Setsu wasn't quite used to, and before she could see it coming, the fire mage delivered a hard kick to Gray's face, sending him flying from the hard impact. Heaving Gray's limp body over his shoulder, Natsu hopped onto the boat, "Oh well, guess we're ridin' this boat."

"We're taking Gray with us?" Lucy asked. "If Gray goes back to the Guild, Erza would be coming next," Setsu pointed out as the three cringed simultaneously yet again.

* * *

Setsu placed a reassuring hand on Natsu's shoulder who was draped across the edge of the boat, his face green and cheeks puffed out, looking as though he was about to throw up or pass out any second then. The gesture did little to help him, as he heaved.

There was an ominous aura in the air – one quite alike to the aura that lingered in Old Mill Village before Setsu was freed. Lucy shivered, running her hands up and down her arms, "Great, _now_ I get scared…"

"You're one to talk, after getting me mixed up in this!" Gray growled, thrashing around in his restraints. Natsu had done the favor of tying the ice mage up while he was still unconscious, something that Gray wasn't _too_ happy about. "And you too!" Gray continued, turning his attention to the sailor who stood at the edge of the boat, his back faced towards them, "Why'd you launch the boat?"

"My name is Bobo," the sailor replied, glancing back at the group over his shoulder, "I once was a citizen of that island." Setsu perked up, intrigued by the new piece of information. "I ran away from that cursed isle. If you go to that island, grave misfortune will befall you. Can you really undo the curse?"

With that, he swung his cloak, revealing a terrific sight. Where Setsu expected to see the tan skin of a sailor who worked under the sun, it was replaced by a grotesque blue-black. It seemed like the arm of a devil, one that was strangely distorted. It had a smooth surface, almost like the shell of an insect, and spikes that poked out from various points. _A devil's arm,_ Setsu thought.

"The demon curse," the sailor confirmed.

"Mister, your arm…" Gray gasped.

"The curse…you don't mean…" Lucy trailed off. There wasn't any need to continue, for they finally realized the graveness of the Curse they were supposed to lift.

Setsu wasn't quite sure about their decision to go to Galuna Island anymore. The Master had been caring for their well-being by not allowing them to take up an S-Class Quest. Would it even be right to go to the Island without his acknowledgment of their powers and abilities first?

 _No,_ the answer rang loud and clear in her ears, _it wouldn't be right. But it is what we would do._

That island was dangerous; Setsu had no doubt about it. She had known it from the start. But Natsu had been determined, and she was sure that nothing could stop him. If Galuna Island was where he would meet his death, then Setsu would follow him willingly to offer her life as well. He was her savior, and her precious friend. Following him to help him accomplish his goal of receiving the Matser's approval, following him to protect and help him in whatever way she could, was something she had decided that very day they had saved her.

"You can see it now," the sailor nodded towards the distance, where a large figure of an island stood grandly, lit up by a bright light at the top, "That's Galuna Island."

"What's that? There's something shining at the peak of the mountain…" Setsu noted, and when she received no answer, she turned back to face the sailor. But where he had stood just seconds ago was now an empty spot, and her eyes darted around, trying to locate him.

"Huh? Where'd he go?!" Lucy cried.

"Did he fall overboard?" Gray questioned. "He disappeared when we weren't looking," Happy sighed. A loud rumbling sound resounded around them just then, causing the four mages, and Happy, to stop in their tracks.

"What's that sound?" Lucy asked. A bead of cold sweat trickled down Setsu's temple, as she turned around slowly, finding the source of the sound. She stood still, her frame frozen in utter fear at the shadow that loomed over them. A gigantic wave threatened to pound over their heads mercilessly, the roaring of the ocean growing louder as the wave rose higher and higher, making Setsu let out a squeak.

"It's a giant wave!" Lucy cried. "No duh!" Setsu screamed.

"We're being engulfed! Hold on!" Gray shouted, lurching forward to cover Setsu's body. "Happy! Grab onto the boat and fly!" Lucy screamed, and the poor cat cried back, "I can't!"

And the wave fell.

It felt as though ten bricks had been dropped on her head, as the small boat, similar to a tiny ant compared to the enormous wave, capsized, tossing all of them into the dark ocean. Setsu choked, water filling her lungs. The sudden drop into the cold sea made her shiver as she clutched at her head and chest in pain. Her eardrums pounded from the water pressure, and her eyes stung from the saltwater.

It wasn't long before she fell into the comforting arms of the darkness.

* * *

She had awoken to a pounding headache, and the strangely discomforting scent of the ocean. As the sound of a wave crashing on the shore rang in her ears, triggering the memory of her drowning after a large wave overcame them to surface.

Setsu peeled her eyes opening, flinching at the bright light of the sun. Her skin tingled, probably from a slight sunburn, and sand clung to her damp and pruned skin, causing her to grimace. She sat up stiffly, feeling her bones crack, and ran a hand through her wet and tangled hair.

Her hand made contact with something greasy, and she cringed, picking the piece of seaweed off her head and tossing it aside in slight disgust. Her eyes darted around. Fortunately, all of them had washed up at the same shore. They were definitely lucky to have all washed up on the shores of Galuna Island.

None of them had gotten up yet, and Setsu felt a small wave of worry overcome her as she got up, walking over to where a certain blue cat was half buried in the sand, his butt in the air. She gently picked him up, settling him down under a nearby palm tree. She did the same with her three friends, though she certainly had some trouble dragging them to the shade.

After that, she helped brush off the sand from their skin, and also untangled the ropes that still bound Gray firmly together. A soft groan caused her to snap her head up, as the ice mage opened his eyes, struggling to sit up.

"Setsu?" he slurred, and she nodded, pulling away the last of the restraints around him. "The others haven't woken up yet. They don't seem to be injured, so they should wake up soon," she informed him, settling down beside him. Gray turned to look at the other three figures that lay motionless beside him, before turning back to face Setsu.

His brow furrowed, as if what he was about to say next was something serious. Of course it was, and Setsu knew what it was before he even uttered the first word.

"What happened yesterday?"

She frowned. Hopefully, if she played dumb, he would let it go, though the chances of that happening was slim. There was no harm in trying though, so Setsu replied, "What do you mean? Nothing happened yesterday."

His eyes narrowed, "You know what I'm talking about." Setsu sighed, running her hand through her unruly hair yet again. A silence lingered in the air, and Gray's stern gaze never wavered. "I don't know. I guess I just...wasn't in a very good mood," she finally answered.

Gray wasn't satisfied with her answer though. In an attempt to lighten the atmosphere, she added, "Happens once a month to all girls."

Before Gray could reply, another voice joined in the conversation, "Where…am I?" Setsu turned, smiling at Lucy in gratitude for interrupting the conversation.

She knew Gray wouldn't let go, and would continue to pry, but Setsu wasn't quite ready to confide in her friends just yet. She wasn't even sure if she would _ever_ be ready to tell her friends.

"We arrived!" Natsu cheered. "A giant wave washed us here," Lucy muttered. "Good thing we lucked out," Gray commented, his face paling slightly.

"But what was with that guy…He said something about the Demon Curse…?" Setsu questioned seriously. Unfortunately, Natsu didn't seem to share the same thoughts. "Who cares?! Let's go exploring! It's an expedition!" The Dragon Slayer waved his arms in the air in excitement as Happy let out a loud "Aye!"

"So you're more interested in that than the request?" Lucy sweat dropped, shaking her head in exasperation at her team mates. Setsu laughed, before turning serious yet again as she grabbed the request poster, "There seems to be only one village on this island."

"The chieftain there is the person who made the request," Lucy added, "Let's search for him first."

"Wait," Gray interrupted. "What?" Natsu snapped, obviously frustrated, "The ship's destroyed, so you can't bring us back."

"No, I'm coming." Setsu paused, narrowing her eyes at the ice mage. He could have something up his sleeve. He had been so adamant on bringing them back previously, but now he wanted to tag along. It was definitely suspicious.

"It'd be annoying if you got up to the second floor before me, and if you got expelled that wouldn't be any fun. We do this job right, and Gramps will have nothing to complain about, right?"

Setsu relaxed, smiling softly as her friends grinned simultaneously. "Let's go!"

"Yeah!"

* * *

The sky was turning dark, and they still had not reached the village. Setsu was starting to feel tired, as another bead of sweat trickle down her temple. The sweltering heat of the sun was definitely something she wasn't used to, considering she had grown up in the cold, as both her parents were ice mages.

Her feet were starting to ache as well, though she refused to voice out her discomfort. And besides, the breaks Lucy forced the group to take every few minutes were more than enough. As she trailed behind the group silently, Gray slowed his footsteps to walk beside her.

"Hey," he started, "You okay?"

"Yeah," Setsu replied, smiling softly in gratitude. "You know…about what happened yesterday, it's alright if you don't want to talk about it. I'm just worried, that's all," Gray brought up, "When you're ready, I'll be here. For now, I'm going to believe it was just you PMSing."

Setsu found her smile widening as she whispered her thanks. She was glad things were resolved, she wasn't quite sure if she could endure the awkwardness between them if it wasn't.

The sky darkened, and the group found themselves in front of large wooden gates, probably ten meters tall. The gate was made of several long pieces of wood bound tightly together with rope. The wood was carved to a sharp point at the top, and paintings of tribal designs decorated it. A disturbing sign was placed on the gate, 'KEEP OUT.'

"Okay, we made it here. Now what? What do they mean, 'Keep out'?" Gray sighed as they looked up the massive gate.

"Excuse us! Please open the gate!" Lucy shouted. The only response that rang through the air was the sound of the crickets chirping in the forest. "Should we bust it down?" Natsu smirked, pounding his fist on his palm.

"No," Setsu calmly replied. That was when two figures appeared above the gates, peering down at them, "Who goes there?!"

The four looked up in slight surprise. "We're from the magic guild, Fairy Tail!" Lucy smiled, relieved that people had come to their aid. However, instead of opening the gate and welcoming them in, the same voice replied accusingly, "We didn't hear that anyone accepted the request!"

"Uh, well…" Lucy trailed off, unsure of how to respond. "There must have been a mix-up, and the message was late!" Setsu took over, lying fluently. "Show us your marks! All of you!" the man shouted back, obviously not believing their words. Setsu shrugged, turning around. Her dress left her back bare, an amendment she made to all of her dresses to proudly show the Fairy Tail symbol.

"They're for real…They really came!" the two men at the top of the gate gasped, and without further ado, opened the gates for the group to enter. The massive gates rose gradually, releasing a screechy groan that made Setsu flinch slightly.

"It's like we're entering the mouth of a giant monster," Happy said. It didn't really help Setsu calm down. "Please don't say things like that," Lucy voiced out her thoughts. Before them stood a large group of people covered in cloaks from head to toe. The whole village had gathered to meet the four mages, further proving how desperate they were to lift the 'curse' they suffered from.

An old man stood at the front, dressed in the same cloak as the rest. He held a wooden staff with a white crescent moon at the top, his back hunched over to reveal his age. The only thing visible was his left eye, which gazed upon the group sternly. "I am the chief of this village, Moka! Firstly, I have something to show you. Villagers!" the man turned to face the rest of the group, and at the command, the group simultaneously dropped their cloaks.

Setsu stumbled back slightly at the sight that greeted her. Just like that sailor, monstrous arms, hands, legs and feet were revealed. Every single villager had at least one limb that resembled that of a devil's.

"The same as the man on the boat…" Gray muttered, and Setsu nodded shakily. Natsu, however, was not at all surprised by the grotesque limbs revealed to them. His eyes bulged out of their sockets as he pointed to the village chief, "Those sideburns are incredible!"

Setsu hit his head lightly, reprimanding him for his rudeness. But as she glanced at the village chief, she silently agreed with the fire mage. His sideburns were long – _too_ long, she was sure. It wasn't that often you see an old man who had sideburns that grew to his waist. It almost resembled a beagle's ears.

"No, no. This is what I wanted to show you," Moka gestured to his devil arm, "Every living thing on this island has been cursed like this. Dogs and birds, without exception." The villagers turned away slightly, most of them unable to look the group in the eye.

They seemed insecure of their differences, as some tried to hide it from view. "Not that I doubt you, but what basis do you have for calling it a curse? Have you considered that it might be an epidemic?" Gray asked.

"We've consulted countless doctors, but they say there is no disease like this," the chief replied, "And this appearance of ours is linked to the moon's evil spell."

"The moon's evil spell?" Setsu echoed, her voice showing her confusion. The chief nodded, before continuing, "This place has absorbed moonlight since ancient times, and the island once sparkled beautifully like the moon. But some years ago, the light of the moon started changing to a purple color."

"A purple moon?" Natsu asked skeptically, his brow furrowing slightly. That was when Happy let out a cry, "The moon is coming out!" The clouds parted, revealing a bright orb that hung in the night sky. Sure enough, the moon was a light purple, a purple that seemed hypnotizing yet deadly at the same time. The purple hue it emitted shone over their faces, blinding Setsu for a moment as she stared dazedly at the moon, basking in its beauty and deadliness.

"He's right!" Lucy gasped, "The moon is purple!" Gray frowned, "That really gives me the creeps."

"It's the curse," the chief croaked, his voice strained, "This is the evil spell of the moon!" He hunched over, cold sweat dripping down his face as he trembled vulnerably. Setsu, not understanding what brought upon his sudden change, stepped forward to help him, but before she could, his eyes shot open, making her stumble back.

It started with a deafening scream, one that sent chills down Setsu's spine. It wasn't long before other cries of agony filled the air, making Setsu back up in horror. The villagers clutched at their bodies, screaming and crying vigorously. Setsu grabbed onto Gray's arm, digging her nails into his flesh in utter horror.

Sounds of bones cracking intermingled with the screams, and Setsu could only watch on, utterly frozen and rooted to the spot, as the villagers started to change forms. Their bones snapped, their limbs bending at awkward angles, as extra limbs started to grow from their bodies. Pointed ears, horns, and claws grew out of each of their bodies. It wasn't just a single limb anymore. Each villager was starting to deform, and turn into something Setsu could only associate with the devil.

"They're…!" Gray took a step back, pulling Setsu towards him as she dug her nails deeper into his flesh. "What's going on?!"

"What the heck?" Natsu stammered, and Setsu could only silently agree with him as she stared on with disbelieving eyes at the beings she had once considered humans standing in front of her.

* * *

"I apologize for startling you," the village chief said. Setsu could hardly believe he was the same person they had been talking to just a moment ago. Horns grew out at the top of his head, and his skin was a devilish blue. A demon, that was what he was. The only thing that convinced Setsu that this was the same chief they had been talking to was the long sideburns that still hung from his scalp.

Something surged in Setsu, and she found herself feeling strangely sad at the sight of the villagers. A curse, one so strange and powerful, had brought them suffering by turning them into monsters. It was a curse that they did nothing to deserve – yet they were forced to endure it regardless. A curse that brought suffering…the thought brought a new one to Setsu's mind, causing her to flinch slightly.

 _Just like how she would bring suffering to her friends…_

"What in the world is this…?" Gray got out. "How awful…" Lucy whispered.

"How…" Natsu trailed off slightly, his expression serious, "HOW COOL!"

There was a stunned silence, as everybody stared at the Dragon Slayer in disbelief. It was almost as if time had stopped just for them to absorb his words. Their jaws dropped, their eyes bulging out of their sockets as Natsu jumped up and down, throwing his arms in the air with wide eyes, "Awesome! You got horns and spikes and stuff! How can I get some?"

"He think this is cool…?" one villager managed to say. "No one's ever said that before…"

Setsu knocked Natsu on the head lightly, as Lucy stepped up to him, obviously irked, "Hey, it's a real problem for them to look like this!"

"Really?" Natsu rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, finally realizing the severity of the situation, "Oh, my bad. Guess we'd better do something about it!"

"He finally gets it," Happy sighed. "Get a clue, seriously," Gray scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Returning to the matter at hand," the chief continued, "When the purple moon appears, we all change to these demonic forms. If this cannot be called a curse, then what is?" A young child, in the form of a yellow demon, was sobbing at a corner while an older blue demon tried to comfort him. The villagers started to tear up, tears dripping down their faces, showing their suffering.

"When the morning comes, everyone returns to their previous forms, however, some never change back again! Their very minds have been stolen from them."

"That's…"Lucy trailed off. The chief lowered his head, "The ones who have been turned into demons, who have lost their minds…we have no choice but to kill them." Setsu took a step back, jolting slightly in shock. "But there might be a way to turn them back to normal!" Natsu shouted.

"If we leave them be, then everyone would be killed by the demon!" the chief shouted back, eyes brimming with tears, "Even when we lock them up, they destroy the jail. That's why…" He drew a photograph from underneath his cloak, gripping it tightly in his hand, "I killed my own son. My son whose mind was turned into that of a demon."

Setsu stiffened when she saw the picture. It was a man, a disturbingly familiar man. The sailor.

"That's…But yesterday, we-" Lucy stammered, before she was silenced abruptly by Gray. "Shh! I know why that guy disappeared," Gray lowered his head, "He couldn't rest in peace, could he?"

Lucy backed away, her face paling. The chief bowed low before them, "Please save this island! If things continue like this, all of us would lose our minds and turn to demons!"

"We won't let that happen! We'll do something about it!" Natsu shouted, his voice firm and loud.

The chief looked up at him in gratitude, before his eyes turned sad yet again, "There is only one way to rid us of this curse. The moon…" He turned, looking up to the purple orb.

"Please destroy the moon."


	4. Chapter 4

"The moon just keeps getting creepier the more you look at it," Happy commented. He was gazing at the moon through the window of the cabin the chief had prepared for their stay. It was rather large, and a lot more than Setsu had bargained for.

Sighing, she stood up, walking over to the blue cat and gently placing a hand on his furry head. She glanced up at the hypnotizing moon yet again, and felt herself getting drawn to the beautiful purple orb.

"Happy, hurry and close the window," Lucy's voice snapped her out of her trance, "The chief explained, remember? If we get exposed to too much moonlight, we'll turn into demons ourselves."

"Anyway, I dunno…" Natsu sat slumped in his chair, looking rather discouraged. "Do they seriously expect us to destroy the moon?" Gray leaned forward.

"Who knows how many punches it'll take?" Natsu pondered, making Gray shoot up with, his eyes bugging, "You're planning on destroying it?! What are you thinking?"

"Yeah," Lucy agreed, sighing, "I don't think there's a wizard who can actually do that." Natsu frowned, "But 'destroy the moon' was the request. If we accept a request and can't complete it, it'll look bad for Fairy Tail."

"We can't do the impossible," Gray argued, "And how do you plan on getting to the moon anyway?" The Dragon Slayer simply grinned, and replied rather idiotically, "Happy!" The blue cat responded rather comically, his blue face paling, "Uh, not happening."

"Well, he said to destroy the moon, but if we investigate further, maybe we can find another way to lift the curse," Setsu pointed out. However, she was interrupted by Lucy who let out a gasp of shock as a shirt was thrown her way. The two girls turned to see Gray removing his clothes nonchalantly, "Walking all day after the shipwreck…I'm beat."

"Why are you stripping?" Lucy sweat dropped while Setsu simply laughed. "Right! So tomorrow we go to explore the island. Now to bed!" Natsu cheered, diving onto the futon that lay neatly on the floor, Happy following after him with an "Aye,sir!"

"We'll think about it tomorrow," Gray agreed, plopping down onto his own futon. "Yeah," Lucy smiled, "I'm tired, too. Let's go to bed."

The two girls settled down, Lucy sleeping in the futon between Natsu and Gray, while Setsu slept on the other side of Gray. Not that she was going to sleep anyways. The lights were switched off, and Natsu and Gray's snores filled her ears, making her smile slightly in amusement.

Snuggling under the covers, she closed her eyes, listening to her teammates' strangely comforting snores, before her eyes snapped open when Lucy let out an exclaim, "How am I supposed to sleep between a beast and an exhibitionist?!"

* * *

Setsu crept out from underneath Gray's arm, which he had draped over her sometime during his sleep. Emerging from underneath the covers, and making sure she did not wake anyone up, Setsu crept towards the front door.

When her hand made contact with it, she pushed it open slightly, bathing the cabin in a purple hue. She slipped out of the door quietly, closing the door gently behind her. Not bothering to put on her shoes, she relished the feeling of the grass underneath her bare feet as she looked up at the purple moon.

She sat down on the grass, staring at the hypnotizing orb in the sky quietly. She didn't really mind being so exposed to the moonlight, and even if she were to turn into a demon, Setsu really didn't care.

She already was a monster, after all.

* * *

Gray peeled his eyes open, already feeling the absence of a particular gold-eyed girl. He sat up with a groan, feeling about the mattress beside him to find her, and when his hand only made contact with empty sheets, he let out a small curse.

He squinted in the darkness, rubbing the blurriness out of his eyes as he tried to locate her in the cabin, but to no avail. _Where is she? Did she get kidnapped?_ A wave of panic overcame him as he scrambled to his feet. _There was no other explanation. She wouldn't be so stupid as to walk out into the moonlight by herself, would she?_

He made his way to the door, ramming it open as his eyes darted around frantically. A small squeak of surprise reached his ears, and Gray could hardly believe his eyes. There sat Setsu, perfectly fine with not a single injury in sight, looking back at him with wide eyes.

"What are you doing here?!" he hissed, making her look away guiltily, "Didn't you hear the chief? If you get exposed to too much moonlight, you could-"

"Turn into a demon, I know," Setsu huffed, getting to her feet, "I just…couldn't sleep." Gray narrowed his eyes at her, and Setsu brushed past him to walk back into the cabin. "What do you mean 'you couldn't sleep'? Did you have a bad dream?"

"No, I can't sleep. Like literally, I don't sleep. Unless I'm really tired, and even then, I don't sleep at night," the girl replied as she walked to her futon, settling down into her covers once again. "Why not?" Gray asked, rather intrigued by the new information as he settled down in his own mattress.

"You guys would get nightmares if I do. I can't control my powers when I'm unconscious, and if I sleep at night when everyone else is asleep and in a vulnerable state of mind, I'll affect them," Setsu whispered, turning away from the ice mage. "But we didn't get nightmares when we were all unconscious after that giant wave washed us on shore. At least, I didn't," Gray pointed out.

"Yeah, I know. But even if you didn't, I don't want to risk it."

"That's nonsense, Setsu. We're stronger than you think. We can handle a small nightmare."

Setsu flinched, hard. She wrenched her covers off, glaring at the ice mage in utter rage. "A small nightmare? A _small nightmare?!_ " She couldn't believe her ears. It was nothing _small._ It wasn't because she was offended by him underestimating her powers, because she _knew_ that her powers were not to be underestimated. The fact that he thought he could handle it, even without experiencing the night terrors himself was what caused her to feel so furious. What if the nightmares she gave him forced him to commit suicide? What if she killed him?

She got to her feet, storming out of the cabin once more in rage. She was trembling, so hard, she looked like she was going to fall over. She heard Gray calling her name and his footsteps as he ran to catch up with her, but she refused to turn back to face him. "Setsu –" Gray grabbed her shoulder, forcing her to come to a stop and swinging her around to face him.

Setsu blew up, " _That small nightmare was what killed my mother. That small nightmare was what caused countless people to commit suicide. YOU HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE DIED BECAUSE OF ME!"_

Gray stood still, utterly stunned by her words. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, yet no sound came from his opened lips. Setsu had no idea what she was doing, or what she was saying. The words poured out of her uncontrollably, and tears of anger rolled down her cheeks as she choked, "Do you have any fucking idea how it feels? One moment you think you're safe, snuggled in your bedsheets and drifting off to sleep, and the next you're in a dark room, where you can't see anything."

"And then you start to feel the pain," Setsu choked out, her eyes glazing over as if recalling a memory, "Your fingernails being torn off one by one. Your tongue being cut off so you can't scream. Your body being burned in flames, your scalp tearing off your head, a knife stabbing you continuously in the gut."

"You're supposed to be dead, but you're not. Because it's all a fucking dream, and nobody dies their dreams. It doesn't even feel like a dream, and you're just there wondering when everything'll just stop, wondering why you just can't die to end the pain."

"And when you finally wake up, you realize it's a dream. But yet, you can still feel the pain tingling in your bones. You're drenched in sweat, and a sour stench in the air tells you you've pissed in your sleep."

Setsu let out a laugh, one so empty and void of emotion, "So pathetic." And then she glances up at the ice mage, expecting to see an expression of horror and fear. After what she told him, he wouldn't want to be near her. Who would want to experience that first-hand, anyway?

But that was not the expression she got. Instead, tears brimmed Gray's eyes as he stared at her with an expression she could only identify as sadness.

There was no trace of the horror or fear she expected, and before she could open her mouth to say anything, he yanked her forwards, wrapping his cold arms around her a she pulled her to his chest, hiding his face in her shoulder as he cried for her.

* * *

Setsu sat at the same spot against the cabin, with Gray beside her. He held his shirt above him as some sort of shield from the moonlight, and his antics made Setsu laugh a little, though he himself did not find it amusing whatsoever.

"Are you sure about being in the moonlight like that? It's not going to be my fault if you turn into a demon," Gray muttered. Setsu smiled, "No, I don't mind. The moonlight's beautiful anyways."

They lapsed into silence for a while, both staring at the night sky. "Thanks," Setsu broke the silence. When Gray raised an eyebrow at her, she continued, "For just now. Nobody has ever cried for me before." A light blush crept up his cheeks as he huffed, turning away from her. It was embarrassing, really, crying in front of her.

"From the way you spoke just now…you suffer from nightmares too?" Gray brought up rather nervously, slightly wary of her reaction. Setsu kept silent for a while, before facing him and giving him a small smile, "Yeah. Stupid, isn't it? For me to be affected by my own powers."

"You guys are going to be affected too, you know," she whispered, turning away and looking down at the ground, "It's only a matter of time before something bad happens because of me. If you are around me, you'll die. I'll kill you, just like how I killed my moth-"

"Shut up."

Setsu's head shot up, as she stared at the ice mage with wide eyes. "Don't fucking underestimate me, Setsu. We're not going to die. None of us are, so just get that fact into your thick head." Setsu backed away, shocked by Gray's outburst. His eyes softened, his voice lowering as he calmed down slightly, "So stop degrading yourself. You're not a murderer, Setsu. So just shut up and go to sleep."

"Gray, I can't –"

"Don't give me that bullshit. I'm fucking tired so I'm going to sleep and you're going to sleep too. I'm not falling asleep until you do, and if I end up not getting my beauty sleep, it's going to be your fault."

Setsu sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"You won't get any nightmares either. The flame-brains snores are going to scare them away."

Setsu closed her eyes in exasperation, before finally relenting to Gray's commands. Getting some sleep sounded so tempting, and if there was a chance that she wouldn't affect them during her sleep, she should try, shouldn't she?

So Setsu leaned against Gray's shoulder, closed her eyes once more and drifted off to sleep.

That night, she didn't have any nightmares.

* * *

She was rudely awoken by something fluffy smashing into her face, causing her to scream and fling it off immediately. She scrambled to her feet, before realizing that the 'it' that had flown into her face was none other than Happy, who sat at a corner nursing the bump on his head.

She was in the cabin, and she realized that Gray had carried her in when she fell asleep. A pale pink dusted her cheeks when her dazed eyes fell on the half-naked ice mage standing a distance away from her.

But she snapped out of it immediately, her eyes scanning her other friends in worry. Did they have nightmares? Where they alright?

The answer was plain. Lucy was screaming at Natsu, her eyes bulging out of their sockets as they always did when they did something unexpected, and Natsu was nonchalantly waving her off as he got ready to explore the island. Happy, now recovered, was flying over their heads cheerfully.

They didn't seem affected at all.

"Um, Natsu, Happy, Lucy?" The three turned to face her expectantly. "H-How was your sleep?"

"Eh? Nothing strange, why?" Natsu tilted his head in confusion. "I didn't sleep well," Lucy complained, and an apology danced on Setsu's lips as she prepared to bow down, but before she could, Lucy continued, "Because these two's snores kept waking me up!"

She pointed accusingly at the Dragon Slayer and the ice mage, and both waved her off. "See?" Gray said, walking up to her, "No nightmares. So from now on, you're going to sleep every night like a normal human being, okay?"

Setsu didn't know how to respond to that.

* * *

"It's early…" Natsu complained.

"Really damn early…." Gray agreed.

"It's your fault I couldn't sleep," Lucy accused, "Now get motivated and get going!" The other four replied with a dead "'Kay…", not being able to keep up with the celestial wizard's enthusiasm. After having a good rest for the first time, Setsu found herself feeling a lot more tired than usual, so tired that she was already struggling to keep her eyes open.

"Gate of the Clock, I open thee!" Lucy chanted, pulling out a silver key from her pouch, "Horologium!"

A blue magic circle appeared, and without warning, a giant grandfather's clock fell from the sky, falling onto the ground with a resounding crash. Setsu watched in fascination as it grew arms and legs, and a head popped out from the top, it's face reminding her of a gentle old man.

"The time is 7:48," it sang, waving it's long arms around, before posing with one hand stretched out, and the other resting on its hip.

Let's just say Setsu didn't feel tired anymore.

* * *

"You really think we can lift the curse without destroying the moon?"Natsu asked.

"Well what other choice do we have?" Gray pointed out, "And even if we could destroy it, it's a bad idea! We wouldn't have the moon-viewing festival anymore!"

"That's true!" Natsu seemed genuinely horrified, his eyes widening to the size of saucers, "We'd never eat the limited-time-only 'Fairy Tail Moon-View Steak' again?"

"I don't know what I'd do if my favorite 'Moon-View Salted Fish' was gone…" Happy added in.

"Not just the festivals, we will never see that beautiful moon hanging in the night sky ever again," Setsu sighed, obviously sad at the thought.

"'Hey, you three! I don't know what you're blabbing about, but keep it down, would you?'…she says," Horologium said. The blonde was squashed into the grandfather's clock, her knees pulled to her chest.

"Walk on your own," Natsu frowned. "Hey, can you really use Celestial Spirits like that?" Gray asked, obviously not approving of her antics. "'We're up against a curse here, you know. It's scary when it's something ephemeral….'….she says," Horologium replied.

"That's what I call an S-Class Quest! I'm fired up!" Natsu shouted, throwing his arms in the air. "I'll freeze that curse up, no prob! Nothing to be scared of!" Gray bragged.

"'You guys really are idiots'… she says."

"Oh yeah, talking about Lucy's Celestial Spirits…Setsu, you have spirits too, right?" Gray asked, facing the gold-eyed girl. "Yeah, I do."

"Summon one for me, Setsu! I wanna see!" Natsu cheered, his eyes shining. "Sure," Setsu smiled, lifting her palm. She held it in front of her, and said, "Hell Gates: Lucifer."

A black magic circle appeared before her palm, and a red light shown through. From the circle walked out a young man, around the same age as them. His hair was a striking silver, falling into his eyes messily. A pair of black wings lay on his back, though torn and worn through. He was tall, his physique rather fit, though he was what others would call slim.

His right eye was a forest green, and the other a deep ocean blue. He was pretty darn attractive, and Lucy would have swoon over him if something else had not caught her attention. Through the man's stomach, was a large gruesome hole. It looked like something large had impaled him, and they could practically see through it to the other side. His ribs could be seen, sharp edges caused by the crushing of the center part of the ribcage. The flesh was an angry red, though mysteriously, he did not seem to be bleeding whatsoever.

"M'lady!" his eyes were wide as he stared at Setsu in disbelief.

"This is Lucifer," Setsu smiled fondly at the man, before turning to her friends, whose eyes were locked to the gaping hole in his stomach in utter horror. "I fell off a cliff. There were sharp rocks at the bottom that impaled me," Lucifer smirked, answering the question that rang in their heads.

"So…SO COOL!" Natsu's eyes gleamed as he ran over to Lucifer, bombarding him with questions. "SO YOU'RE FROM HELL? OH MY GOD, YOU HAVE WINGS! CAN YOU FLY WITH THEM? YOUR EYES ARE SO COOL!"

Setsu let out a small laugh at the flabbergasted Lucifer, who backed away from the Dragon Slayer, more than overwhelmed.

"Natsu, calm down. Sorry for calling you out Lucifer, I just wanted to introduce you to my friends," Setsu smiled, placing a hand on Natsu's shoulder.

"Just wanted to introduce me to your friends?! My lady, do you have any idea how worried I've been?! You summoned me to fight your father, and then at the most critical moment you send me back, without contacting me for the next five years! I thought you were dead!" Lucifer raged, his eyes turning red as he bore his fangs, trembling in utter furiosity.

Setsu let out an apologetic laugh, not really wanting to explain herself to him. So she held out her palm and mouthed an apology. Lucifer's eyes narrowed, "Setsu Tartaros, don't you dare –" Before he could finish, the same magic circle appeared before her palm, and he was forced back in.

"'Tartaros? Your last name is Tartaros?'…she says," Horologium said. Setsu nodded, placing her hands behind her back as she walked forward. "It's not my parents' last name though. My parents didn't give me my name. My name was embedded on my arm when I was born. It faded away after a year, though."

"Hmm…hey, Setsu? How do you get your spirits, anyway? I know Lucy gets them in the form of a key, and she makes a contract with them. How about you?" Natsu asked, walking beside her.

"It's quite similar. You see, the only spirits I can make 'contracts' with are spirits that have grudges. Because of these grudges, they remain here, and don't go to Heaven or Hell. When I help one of them gain peace, they move on to Heaven or Hell, and a 'contract' is automatically made. I won't call it a contract, though. Helping a spirit move on is something big, so in a way they are indebted to me, and volunteer to fight alongside me as my comrades."

"So you helped Lucifer? What was his grudge?"Natsu questioned innocently. Setsu sent him a painful smile, "To kill his parents."

An awkward silence lapped over the group. "It never was my intention. I gave his parents nightmares, you see, because they lived in the same village I did. Both of them committed suicide, and Lucifer came looking for the person who caused it, and became my partner."

"He didn't care if it was my intention or not, he said that I killed them and that was all that mattered. I couldn't say I was too happy about it, though."

That was when a resounding thud rang through her ears, making her freeze. It was followed by another thud, and another, and another. The ground trembled, causing a mini earthquake with every thud.

"What's that?" Natsu turned, along with Setsu and Gray. The sight that greeted them caused their jaws to drop, their eyes bugging. Before them was a dark figure, so enormous it reached the sky. It was probably 20 times their size, the creature's eyes gleaming with malice. As it came closer, Setsu finally managed to choke out, "I-Is that a _mouse_?!"

Sure enough, it was a humongous blue mouse, dressed in a pink corset and apron, with a matching maid headpiece on its furry head. Setsu could hardly believe her eyes.

"WH-WHAT THE HECK?!" Natsu shouted. "It's huge!"

"'Hurry up and get it!'…she says," Horologium said, completely unfazed by the giant before them. Gray pounded his fist on his palm, a blue magic circle surrounding it, "Ice Make: Shield!" A large ice figure appeared, serving as a shield between the giant and the group. Unfortunately, it did nothing to prevent the foul gas that escaped the creature's nostrils. It was a murky green, engulfing them and making Setsu gag at the foul stench.

She could hear Natsu and Gray let out cries of disgust and agony, and the unmistakable voice of Horologium, "'Hey, what's the matter? Wait, when did you get here?' 'Aye!' …they say-" That was when Horologium poofed away, overwhelmed by the horrible stench, leaving Lucy and Happy exposed to it as well.

"Ewwww!" they screamed simultaneously, covering their noses. The smoke cleared, revealing the giant mouse snickering at their responses.

"A mouse?!" Lucy exclaimed in surprise, while Natsu lay, knocked out on the floor, by the pungent odor the mouse had released. "Natsu's down!" Gray shouted. "He's got a good sense of smell, after all," Happy commented.

The mouse walked forward, creating the same mini earthquakes before it paused. A hideous smirk spread across his face, and at that moment, Setsu turned, getting ready to run.

"RUN AWAY!" Natsu screamed, shooting up from his unconscious state as the mouse started to chase them, releasing the same horrible gases as the group screamed in terror and disgust. Gray grit his teeth, turning to face the monster yet again, 'Ice Make: Floor!"

A layer of ice spread over the ground, and the poor mouse slipped, landing hard on its bottom, creating the largest earthquake yet. Gray smirked at his handiwork, while Natsu placed his hands on his hips smugly, "Do that from the start!"

"No complaining!" Gray barked back. Setsu laughed at them, before turning around. She caught something at the corner of her eye, and she tugged on Gray's arm, "Look, there's some sort of building…"

Just a distance away, was a settlement that looked like a temple or castle of some kind, the type you would find in ancient times. There was a symbol of the crescent moon at the entrance.

"Great! Let's go in there while we have the chance…"Lucy trailed off when she saw the two men who had paid no attention to their findings, childishly kicking the now unconscious giant mouse, "Beat it up while we have the chance!"

"Guys…" Lucy sweat dropped, while Setsu just laughed.

* * *

"Whoa, quite large," Lucy gasped as they walked into the temple. Setsu stumbled over a piece of rubble, and Natsu frowned, "It's falling apart."

"What era is this thing from?" Gray added. Setsu glanced around, noticing a few moon symbols in the walls. She pointed at it and tugged on Natsu's arm. "What's that?"

"The moon, huh?" Gray stepped up to inspect the symbols, "This island was originally called, 'The Island of the Moon'."

"The Island of the Moon, the Moon's Curse, moon symbols…" Lucy summed up, "These ruins are really suspicious." Natsu walked away, "But they really are in horrible shape. Are these floors even safe?" He stomped on the ground beneath him repeatedly.

An uneasy feeling rose at the pit of Setsu's stomach and she walked forward to stop him, "Natsu, sto-" Before she could finish, the ground gave way. "Eh?" It crumbled down further, and for few seconds, they hovered in midair, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

And they fell.

Setsu let out a short scream of surprise. "Natsu, you idiot! Look at what you did!" Gray shouted, his cry echoing off the walls as they fell.

* * *

Natsu burst out from underneath the rubble with a gasp, his eyes darting around, "Hey! Is everyone okay?"

"No, not at all thanks to you!" Lucy barked, and Gray groaned, "Why can't you think before destroying things, you idiot!"

Natsu waved him off, his eyes still darting around. "Where's Setsu?" The said girl burst out from the rubble at his words, gasping for air. "Ah, there she is."

Lucy glanced up at the hole in the ceiling, "Happy, can you fly up with everyone?"

"I can't…" Happy replied. "How about you, Setsu? Can you summon Lucifer to bring us up?"

"Lucifer can't fly with another person's weight, you saw his wings…" Setsu answered apologetically. "All my other spirits are the same."

"Underground ruins, huh?" Gray sighed. Natsu cheered, jumping in the air in excitement, "It's a secret cave! We're here and all, so let's go exploring!"

The Dragon Slayer danced towards the opening at the corner, ignoring Gray's shout, "Hey! That's enough running amok out of you!"

That was when Natsu let out a cry of shock, and Setsu froze. "Natsu?!" she scrambled forwards, panic surging up inside of her. The sight that greeted her made her stiffen yet again, her breath locked in her throat.

There stood a large ice figure, so large it was probably twenty, no _thirty_ meters tall. It released an aura that was so undoubtedly frightening, Setsu started to shiver, cold sweat running down her spine.

Encased in the thick ice was a demon.

That was the only way to describe it. It was absolutely massive, its skin a deadly blue. On its large torso was a series of spikes, it's long and bulky arms ending in hideous, scaly claws. It's eyes, strangely hollow, promised death despite it being strongly encased in its ice prison. Its horns pointed upwards, jutting from a plate on its forehead.

A humanoid demon. One so terrifying, it made Setsu want to run away right then and there.

"T-This is…" Gray choked out.

"Deliora!"

The name came out of his mouth like a curse. It was just a name, yet it was said with so much _terror_ and _horror._ His eyes were wide, his pupils shrunken in utter fright. Gray stepped forward, trembling so hard he looked like he was about to fall over, "Y-You're joking…Why is Deliora here?!"

His voice took on a tone of disbelief and rage, so intense that Setsu flinched. "I can't believe this! There's no way it would be in a place like this!"

Natsu and Lucy walked up to him. "You know this thing?"

"That's…That's…" he looked down at his trembling hands, his words lodged in his throat as he struggled to get them out. "Gray, calm down," Lucy placed a hand on his shoulder. Gray took a deep breath, before he lifted his shaking head to look up at the figure again.

"So, what is it?" Lucy asked. "It's Deliora," he managed to get out, "The Demon of Disaster."

"Demon of the Ashtray?" Natsu cocked his head in confusion. "Disaster," Happy corrected.

"It's just like it was back then…What the hell happened?" Gray cursed, his voice strained. That was when a scream sounded, so loud and terrifying, it shook them to the marrow. They turned, and there was Setsu, shaking vigorously and clutching at her head, her eyes squeezed shut and tears rolling down her cheeks.

"S-Setsu?!" Natsu rushed to her side, trying to find out what was wrong. The girl didn't budge. And at the worst timing possible, footsteps resounded through the cave.

"There was a scream from here just now…" a man's voice sounded, followed by what seemed like a dog's growl of agreement. Two figures emerged, one a short man with gravity-defying blue hair and thick eyebrows, and the other a lanky half-naked man with features similar to that of a dog.

Lucy, Natsu and Gray watched them from behind a bunch of rocks, Natsu holding the still petrified Setsu to him. "It's noon, I'm sleepy," the blue haired man complained, and the dog-man responded with another sound of agreement.

"Toby, you got exposed to the Moon-Drip?" the blue-haired man smirked, "You got like, ears and stuff."

The dog-man responded ferociously, his eyes slanting and his teeth turning razor-sharp as he growled, "No dude! They're like, fashion, yo!"

"Just teasing, you dolt."

"Yuka, you meanie," Toby whimpered.

"Moon Drip?" Lucy whispered, "Are they talking about the curse?" Natsu shook Setsu in his arms, "Setsu? You okay?"

She didn't reply.

"She's trembling really hard," Natsu told Gray, his brow furrowing in worry. But they were once again interrupted by a new set of footsteps resounding around the cave. "Yuka-san, Toby-san, I bring sad news," a girl said as she walked up towards them. Her pink hair was held in two pigtails, and she was dressed in a small black and pink corset dress and high boots, with two feather-like strings flowing behind her.

"It's you, Sherry," Yuka acknowledged, while Toby waved at her with a whine. "Angelica has been bullied by someone," the girl said.

Toby erupted yet again, barking, "It's a mouse, dude! Don't give it no fancy name!"

"She's not a mouse!" Sherry argued, "Angelica is a hunter that runs through the darkness…and…love!"

Sparkles surrounded her as the word 'love' echoed around her dramatically. "We've got some serious weirdos here. Especially that last one," Lucy commented. "They're not from this island," Natsu pointed out, "They smell different."

"And they don't seem like they're cursed, either," Happy added in.

"Intruders?" Yuka asked, making the group jolt slightly in shock. Fortunately, they had not been discovered yet. "And we haven't collected all the moonlight we need yet! How vexing!" Sherry sighed, "Let us exterminate the intruders before Reitei-sama hears of them. Yes. Before the moon's true form appears."

"Yeah," Yuka smirked, Toby giving a whine of agreement yet again. "We can't let them survive if they've seen Deliora," Sherry continued, "We must put intruders to sleep for eternity. In other words…love!"

"You mean, death?" Toby sweat dropped. That was when a small crackle was heard from the passageway they had entered from, and the their heads shot up in alarm. "What's that?" Sherry asked. "It's from over there," Yuka ran off, back towards the way they came from with the other two following behind him.

Once they were out of sight, the group emerged from behind the rocks as Happy flew up to them after completing his task of creating a distraction. "Good work," Lucy smiled. "Aye."

"What? Why don't we catch them and make them answer our questions?" Natsu clenched his fist, tightening his hold around Setsu. "Not yet," Lucy replied, "Let's look around some more."

"This has gotten kind of complicated," Natsu sighed as he looked down at Setsu. "Setsu?"

He shook her in his arms, and when he still received no response, he let out another sigh. "Who is this Reitei-sama person?" Happy asked. "Why the hell did they bring Deliora here? And how did they find the place it was sealed anyway?" Gray growled, looking back at the demon before them.

"The place it was sealed?" Lucy echoed.

"This thing was sealed in a glacier on the northern continent. An immortal demon that ran rampant ten years ago in the land of Isvan. The demon who Ul, the wizard who taught me magic, gave her life to seal away!" Gray spat, "I don't know what connection it as to the curse on this island, but this thing should never be here!"

He clenched his fist, ice swirling around it in his rage, "Who the hell is this Reitei person?! I WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THROWING DIRT ON UL'S NAME!"

At his shouts, a certain raven-haired girl jolted. "Setsu?" Natsu called again, and her trembling ceased. She lifted her head slowly, cautiously, and when she locked eyes with her teammates, they froze.

For where there once were golden eyes, were now replaced with purple orbs.


	5. Chapter 5

**WARNING: Slight gore ahead. Read with caution!**

* * *

"S-Setsu?" Natsu reached his hand out, blinking slowly at the purple-eyed girl.

There was a small pause, before the girl grinned. A maniacal laugh escaped from her lips, her eyes widening in absolute glee as she crawled forward. "Set-suuu," she dragged the name, giggling as if she knew something they didn't, before she threw her head back and cackled.

There was something about that laugh that sounded so inhumanely _insane,_ making her teammates back away in unease. This wasn't Setsu.

"Setsu! Setsuuuuu!" the girl sang, throwing her arms in the air and prancing around, giggling. That was when she saw Deliora. She stopped abruptly, her hands falling to her sides as she stared wide-eyed at the frozen demon, her jaw slackening.

"Deliora,"she whispered. She took an uneasy step forward, her hands flying up to cover her mouth. Her reaction was definitely strange, as if she was seeing the demon for the first time. But that was impossible, for the girl had already seen the demon just moments before her breakdown, hadn't she?

But despite that, her reaction of shock made her teammates expect her to understand the danger and destruction Deliora brought, and therefore fear the demon.

But contrary to their expectations, the girl's reaction made their jaws drop.

"DELIORA!" she cheered, the same laughter sounding as she danced around the demon, her wide, insane eyes locked onto the demon.

What was the emotion in those purple orbs? It wasn't fear or horror, absolutely not.

There was the unmistakable look of _adore_ in those eyes.

She jumped up, flying high in the air with a squeal of delight before landing lightly on the frozen demon's shoulder, settling down comfortably.

"SETSU!" Gray growled, his eyes turning to slits. How _dare_ she?! _How dare she throw dirt on Ul's name?!_ The girl didn't respond, her eyes still locked lovingly on the demon. Gray let out a roar of rage, ice forming around his fist.

A voice rang at the back of his head. _Setsu is your teammate, isn't she? You shouldn't use your powers…She should have a good reason to-_

"Don't worry, I'll get you out soon," she purred, tilting her head lovingly at the demon. That did it. The rage took over Gray, overwhelming him, encompassing him as he roared. There was no delay of any kind, or no further attempts to stop her. He flew up, a fist of ice aimed right at Setsu's face.

The girl looked up, her eyebrow raised in obvious irritation. However, she did no move to defend herself, and at that moment, Gray couldn't care less whether he injured her or not. He threw the punch as hard as he could, catching her flush in the face.

There was no scream of pain, or even a gasp of shock. There was no sound whatsoever except for the sickening sound of his fist of ice making contact with her face, and the sound of wind as she flew back from the hard impact.

Her back crashed into the cave wall, making it crack, and rubble to fall over her. Still, she made no sound, and for a moment, Gray thought she was unconscious. Setsu slid down to the ground limply; her head hung low, crimson blood dripping from her face onto her clothes.

And Gray realized what he had done.

He froze, his fist still outstretched from when he punched her as he stared at the motionless girl. A surge of emotion washed over him, and something locked in his throat. Was it guilt? Gray didn't know. All he was aware of was the humiliation and horror he felt, all directed at what he had just done.

"Gray!" Lucy cried in horror, as she ran forward to Setsu. Natsu and Happy followed, as they attempted to lift the girl's head to see her condition.

But just as Natsu's hand grazed her skin, Setsu's head shot up, her arm swinging out so fast – nobody could see. She smashed her palm into Natsu's face, and for a moment, everything was still. And then Natsu was flying through the air, crashing into the opposite end of the cave.

Lucy froze.

As she processed what had just happened, she turned slowly, her eyes wide in utter horror and disbelief. When her eyes landed on Natsu, falling onto the ground from the impact and coughing out blood, she blinked. Her eyes drifted back to the raven-haired girl, her body trembling in fear.

This wasn't Setsu.

'Setsu' got up, licking her bleeding lip and grinning. She raised a hand to touch her cheek, and when she pulled it away to see the crimson blood, her grin grew wider to the point that it almost looked painful. It started as a low chuckle, gradually growing louder as she began to full-on laugh, clutching her stomach as tears flowed down her bloody cheeks.

When the red tears dropped onto her palm, she raised it up, the same grin on her face as she addressed Gray, "Look! Look! My tears are red!" And then she continued to laugh, as if she just told the funniest joke ever.

At that moment, nobody could say a single word. They just stared at the girl that obviously wasn't Setsu Tartarus.

* * *

"Setsuuuuu….Se-TSUUUUU!" the purple-eyed girl cheered at the corner of the cave. Gray cast a wary glance at her, and the girl grinned back, revealing bloody teeth. "Ne, ne…can you make something for me?"

"…What?"

" A head!"

"…"

"We don't have time for your jokes," Natsu growled at her.

"Can I use your head? It won't hurt, I promise! I'll give it back to you later!"

"No. Whose head do you want me to make?" Gray finally relented, not wanting to deal with her any longer. "Yours!" she giggled. Gray sighed, before slamming his fist onto his palm, a magic circle forming around it. A moment later, an ice figure with Gray's features hovered over his palm, and he handed it to her.

'Setsu' let out a cheer, stretching her arms outwards, resembling a child receiving a Christmas present. She settled it down in front of her, and with a squeal of glee, brought her fist down on it. There was a loud 'crunch', and the figure broke, the ice shards digging into her skin. Blood flowed out of her wounds, painting the shattered ice a crimson red.

That only made her happier.

She laughed as she brought down her fist on it again and again, each time digging the ice shards deeper into her flesh and causing more blood to seep out. Lucy let out a small scream of horror, while Gray and Natsu cringed away from her.

After a while, she seemed to get bored, before her eyes lightened yet again as she grabbed a bigger piece of ice that had broken off from the figure. She held it in her right hand, stretching her left arm to reveal the clean, white flesh of the underside of her forearm.

With a delighted squeal, she brought the shard down.

There was a sickening 'squish', the sound of it penetrating her flesh. She dug it in deeper, her eyes flashing and growing wider until it hit the bone, and once it did, she pulled it out for her to bring it down again.

Lucy screamed this time, dragging Natsu in front of her as she closed her eyes, not wanting to see the girl's masochistic ways. After the raven-haired girl got bored, her forearm already mutilated and destroyed, she let out a sigh, stretching her legs in front of her in boredom.

"S-Setsu…?" Happy called timidly. Purple eyes shot to him in surprise, scanning him over. Then, the same grin spread over her lips. "Here, kitty cat. Let's play together. It's going to be fun, I promise." She held the bloody shard high up, her eyes glinting.

Happy cried, flying over to Natsu with tears streaming down his blue cheeks. "Don't touch Happy," Natsu snapped, his eyes hard. "Tsk. Bo-ring…" she frowned, before she waved Happy over yet again. "I won't touch you, I promise!"

She really made promises a lot.

Happy walked over unsurely. He could feel his heartbeat growing faster and faster as he drew nearer to the masochistic girl, and he gulped down, trying to swallow his fear. The girl smiled, but it wasn't the same smile as the ones she had just now. This smile seemed more…Setsu.

Gaining a little confidence, Happy sat down a small distance away from her, short enough for them to make conversation, and long enough for him to fly away if need be. The girl hummed a tune, as she reached into the pocket of her black dress, pulling out a roll of thread and a needle.

Happy had no idea why Setsu kept that in her pocket.

What she did next was rather humane, as she bit down on the thread to cut it off, and then threaded it through the needle, squinting as she did so.

But Happy took that back immediately.

As she continued to hum, Happy watched on with horror as she started to thread through the torn flesh of her forearm, stitching it up messily. "Ne, ne, kitty," she started in a sing-song voice, "What's a Setsu?"

Happy was speechless. What's a Setsu? But _she_ was Setsu. Well, her attitude was completely different, and the quiet, yet caring Setsu had been replaced with an insane, masochistic Setsu, but she was still Setsu, right?

"Y-You're Setsu…" Happy answered, rather bewildered.

"No, I'm not," she frowned.

"T-Then who are you?"

"I'm Na Na."

* * *

"I don't trust her," Lucy said bluntly, eyeing the girl as she made conversation with Happy. Gray narrowed his eyes at the two as well, before sighing, "Why must this happen now? We have bigger matters to tend to." He turned, facing the frozen Deliora.

"My master, Ul, encased the demon using an Ice Shell spell," he said after a small pause, "That's ice that can't melt. No matter what kind of magical fire you use, you can't melt that ice. If they knew they couldn't melt it, then why move it here?"

"I don't know, but maybe they're trying to melt it somehow?" Lucy pondered. Gray erupted, his eyes slanting in anger, "BUT WHY?!"

"I-I don't know!" Lucy stammered, on the verge of tears at his outburst.

"Tch, something's not right. Who brought Deliora here, and for what reason?"

Natsu smirked, "Well, it's simple. We should just chase after those guys from before." Lucy nodded, "Yeah."

"No," Gray frowned, turning back to face the demon, "We wait here. We wait until the moon comes out." Natsu's eyes bulged out of their sockets, "The moon?! But it's still noon! No way, no way! I'd be bored to death!"

"Gray, what are you talking about?" Lucy asked, ignoring Natsu. "I think that this island's curse and Deliora are both connected somehow with the moon. And those guys also said: 'Soon we'll have collected enough moonlight.'"

"I _am_ curious about what'll happen and what they're up to," Lucy agreed. Natsu flared up, his teeth turning sharp as he spurted fire, "I can't stand it! I'm going after them!" And right after he uttered those words, he collapsed on the ground, loud snores filling up the cave as he slept with a satisfied grin on his face.

Lucy sweat dropped, "That was fast."

* * *

"This guy really just lives on instinct, you know?" Lucy sighed, glancing at the still asleep Natsu. "Aye, that's Natsu for you," Happy nodded. "I'm almost kind of jealous…" Lucy trailed off.

Setsu, _no,_ Na Na, on the other hand, was dancing around again, admiring her handiwork on her arm.

"Happy, look! Look! They're so pretty!" She showed her mutilated forearm, still dripping with fresh blood, though the flesh was messily pulled together by a black thread. It made Happy and Lucy want to gag just at the sight of it, and Happy forced a smile, "A-Aye…"

Away from the chaos, Gray sat before the frozen Deliora, his head hung low. The sight of Deliora after ten long years brought up unwanted memories he had already struggled to put at the back of his mind.

"Ul…"

His eyes flashed as the unwelcomed flashback played in his head, so vivid, it was as if it had happened only just yesterday…

 **-Flashback-**

 _Young Gray panted, his arms resting on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath. Fogs of smoke came out of his mouth, the cold winter air knocking against his body, threatening to push him down._

" _Gray…Can you keep up?" Ul asked, her back turned towards him. "My training is harsh," she smiled, turning to face him. Gray kept silent for a while, still trying to catch his breath. He raised his head, his gaze determined, "You bet! I'll do anything!"_

 **-End of Flashback-**

* * *

Lucy let out a sigh, leaning back on her arms, "Waiting is pretty boring."

"Aye," Happy agreed from beside her. They lapsed into silence, before Lucy clapped, her eyes brightening, "That's it!" She reached into her pouch, pulling out a silver key, "Gate of the Harp, I open thee…Lyra!"

There was the sound of a doorbell, and a magic circle appeared. From it, emerged a young girl dressed in a blue maiden dress, a scarf wrapped around her head, and a harp on her back. "Heya! Long time no see, Lucy!"

"Hi, Lyra!" Lucy smiled. "Why don't you call me more often?" Lyra pouted, "I want to be lots and lots more helpful to you! Lucy, you're a meanie!"

"A meanie? But I can only call you three days a month…" Lucy frowned. Meanwhile, Na Na's eyes were gleaming as she stared at Lyra in utter fascination, "Whoa! Ne,ne…Can you die?"

Her eyes flashed, the same maniacal grin spreading across her lips yet again, "You're a spirit…So you can't die, right? Ne, let's play!" Setsu reached out to grab Lyra's hands, and Lyra, not sensing the danger emitting from Nana, cracked a smile. "No, I can die. Why?"

"Eh…" Na Na pouted, "That's no fun…" She walked off, squatting in a corner by herself, obviously depressed by the fact. She wanted to find something new to play with, but everybody refused to play with her! Couldn't they see how much fun it was?

And just when a spirit comes out, she thought she could finally have a good toy to play with! It never was fun to play with something to dies after the first few hours of playtime. She thought that she could finally have one of those toys that continued to bleed even after 12 hours of playtime, the type that still screamed beautifully no matter what she did.

Na Na always found it amusing, how they would scream non-stop, so loud, they bounced off the walls and rang in her ears. She never minded them though, she found it funny. How they would scream for help, even though they knew nobody else could hear them. And if someone _did_ hear, what made them think that they would be able to help them anyway?

Their screams just attracted more toys.

She turned frowning slightly at the group just a distance away from her.

They just couldn't see the beauty of it all. That beautiful red that streamed out even with the slightest cuts, and just dig a little deeper and more comes out, like a never ending supply. And those gleaming white teeth that she ached to pull out one by one, to make a new chandelier with those white teeth stained gorgeously red, hanging by strips of skin she could rip off of their flesh.

They didn't understand how beautiful it was.

* * *

"So? What kind of song would you like me to sing today?" Lyra asked cheerfully. "Whatever you want. Your choice!" Lucy replied.

"I'd like a song about fish!" Happy smiled. Lyra gave him a thumbs up, "Then I'd play whatever comes to mind!"

"Lyra is a really good singer!" Lucy said, and Happy replied, "Mira is also a really good singer! She sings me songs about fish, too!"

But his words were forgotten as the harmonious sound of a harp filled the cave, echoing in their ears. The music had a solemnness to it, a solemnness that made Na Na turn around, her wide eyes locked onto Lyra. Yet, along with that solemnness, there was a soft gentleness to it as well, almost like a lullaby.

 _ **Words given birth…**_

 _ **Words dying out…**_

 _ **The words living on inside of you…**_

 _ **Time seems to stand still, changes into courage…**_

 _ **Now, step out…**_

 _ **You'll become stronger than you were…**_

 _Gray grit his teeth, watching as Ul formed an ice barrier. He attempted to follow likewise, but the barrier made was small, and shattered to small pieces moments after, throwing him back into the snow._

 _ **Be lost no longer…**_

 _ **Believe in those words back then…**_

 _Gray stood, his gaze determined as he formed the hand signs, a magic circle emerging in front of him. He thrust his hands forward, a large and sturdy ice barrier appearing before his small body. He turned to face Ul, who looked down at him softly, a hint of proudness in her eyes._

Gray dug his nails into his skin, clenching his fists as he felt the tears building up. The sadness, the utter emptiness he felt poisoned his veins as he struggled to dislodge the block in his throat. He felt dull, as if the sense of loss and despair had killed off all his other emotions. He hadn't felt this way since ten years ago. Since she died.

It greyed his spirit, the spirit that he had struggled to bring up after that incident. Gray let out a shaky breath, one that sounded so _vulnerable_ ; it left him feeling completely helpless. No matter how hard he cried, how hard he pounded at his head, Ul's face appeared. Her face when he made her proud, her face when she was disappointed, her face when she was laughing.

Her face when she was dead.

And the tears came rolling down.

* * *

"Hey, uh…Gray?" Lucy stammered, the disbelief ringing in her voice.

"W-What?" he swallowed down his tears, turning away to hide his face. "You're crying?" Happy asked.

"It's true that Lyra has the ability to sing songs that reflect what's in people's hearts, but…" Lucy trailed off, not really knowing what to say. "Gray was crying," Happy repeated disbelievingly. "No, I wasn't," Gray growled, his teeth gritting together.

"S-Sing a happier song, Lyra!" Lucy said.

"Oh! Then tell me that beforehand!"

Gray swallowed down again, trying to stop his shaky breaths, "Now that I think about it, what if someone comes along? Be quiet."

Over everybody's shock from seeing Gray cry, nobody noticed the tears streaming down the cheeks of a certain purple-eyed girl as well.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: A short chapter, but still hope everybody likes it!**

Na Na hummed lightly to the tune of 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' as she continued to sew herself up, admiring the small crimson beads of blood forming when she pierced her skin. She sniffled, frowning as she brought up her wrist to wipe away the small tear that ran down her face.

What was happening? She had no idea. This had never happened before. What was it those people called it? _Crying,_ if she remembered correctly. What a strange thing to do. Sure, she had shed a few tears before, something that came when she laughed too hard, but never before had she shed tears of…sadness.

Na Na didn't like it.

That strange ache in her chest, felt as though an imaginary sharp knife had stabbed right through it. Na Na didn't mind the pain, not at all. She _loved_ pain. But why, _why_ did she dislike this pain so much? And then those tears had come rolling down uncontrollably, and there was that block in her throat that she had tried to swallow down, but to no avail.

Yes, Na Na didn't like it at all.

She glanced up at the frozen Deliora through teary eyes, trying to cheer herself up. To her relief, the ache in her chest ebbed away, a familiar feeling now blooming in place of it. _Adore._ Oh, how much fun she would have with Deliora once it was freed. The Demon of Destruction; Na Na liked the sound of that.

It won't die easily, if it was the Demon of Destruction, would it? After all, it was known to be immortal. Ah, the toy that she had dreamed of having since ages ago, yet she couldn't seem to get her hands on. It had disappeared ten years ago, and Na Na had thought that her toy had already been claimed by someone else.

So that was where it was, frozen in ice. She would get it out soon, and they would have all the fun they could have in the world.

Maybe, just _maybe_ , her new toy would be able to kill her. Na Na couldn't wait.

* * *

The group was jolted awake by a loud rumble, causing the cave to shake vigorously. Lucy sat up, rubbing her eyes tiredly, "What's that noise?"

"It's night?!" Natsu shouted, sitting upright. Gray looked up, his eyes half-hooded. And as if on cue, a large magic circle appeared at the top of the cave, a bright purple light breaking through and bathing the frozen Deliora.

"Light's coming down from…" Lucy gasped. "…the ceiling!" Natsu finished, his eyes wide.

"Purple light…It's light from the moon!" Gray cursed. "What the heck? What's going on?!" Happy cried. Na Na simply sat in front of Deliora, squealing and clapping her hands excitedly.

"It's landing on Deliora…"Gray trailed off. Natsu grit his teeth in response, "This ain't no coincidence!" Gray turned, heading towards the exit, "Let's go! We'll search for where the light is coming from!"

The three ran, Happy flying beside them as Na Na laughed, dancing around Deliora. Natsu paused, his eyes wavering as he pondered whether to bring her along with them, and finally, with a frustrated groan, he grabbed hold of her stitched wrist, dragging her beside him as they ran out of the cave.

"Nani? Are you bringing me to see a new toy?" Na Na asked, her eyes wide in anticipation. Natsu ignored her, yanking her forwards as they ran up the stairs, reaching the templed ruins they had fell from earlier in the day. The same magic circle was spread across the ground and the ceiling, the light flowing in a vertical line.

"A magic circle is spread over the center of the ruin…" Gray voiced out. Natsu took a glance, before continuing, ignoring Na Na's delighted squeals, "It's farther above!" They ran up the next flight of stairs, appearing at the rooftop of the temple ruin. Mosses and plants grew over the broken rubble, and, noticing something strange in the middle of the rooftop, the group ducked down, hiding behind a large piece of rubble.

A large group of cloaked figures stood in a circle, their hands linked together with the magic circle inside, as they chanted, "Zeram…sen…Deioluna! Kuupelar Kulrakar Zeram…sen…Deioluna!"

"What's that?" Natsu exclaimed, causing Lucy to hush him. The cloaked figures all had cloths that greatly resembled paper bags hung over their heads to hide their features. The light from the purple moon that hung majestically over their heads was collected to a large stream of light that shone down straight into the magic circle.

"The moon!" Gray gasped. "They're really collecting the light from the moon," Natsu frowned. :ucy added, "What are they trying to do by shining it on Deliora?"

" It's a spell in Belianese, Moon Drip!" came the reply from Lyra. "Wait, you're still here?" Lucy asked, obviously shocked by her appearance. Lyra ignored her, continuing, "I see. So that's it."

"What? What is it?"

"They're using Moon Drip to resurrect that demon!"

"What?!" Gray growled, "You're kidding! Iced Shell is ice that can't be melted!" Lyra shook her head, "The magic that can melt it is Moon Drip. The collected magic of the moon has the power to undo any magic."

"Whoa, sugoi!" Na Na laughed, clapping her hands excitedly. "These guys don't know the horror of Deliora!" Gray cursed.

"I think that the curse the villagers believe is on this Island is a side effect of the Moon Drip. The collected magic from the moon is contamination their bodies. That's just how powerful the magic is," Lyra added. "Damn them," Natsu growled, lifting his fist. However, Lucy elbowed him in the face, halting him, "Hold it! Someone's coming!"

Sure enough, footsteps sounded from the opposite side, and the group watched from behind the rubble as an armored man came into view, with Yuka, Toby and Sherry close behind him.

"Damn it. I'm still sleepy after waking up at noon. And we never did find the intruders," Yuka scoffed. "If they even existed!" Toby barked, obviously irked.

"It is saddening, Reitei-sama," Sherry sighed, "There seemed to be intruders around noon, but we failed to catch them. I cannot express my love like this."

"Intruders…" Reitei trailed off. Gray jolted. _That voice…_

"So that's Reitei," Natsu said. Lucy frowned, "What a big shot…He's even wearing a funky mask." Happy innocently added in, "Really? I think it's cool."

"Has Deliora been revived yet?" Reitei asked. "At this rate, either today or tomorrow…" Sherry replied. At that, Na Na grinned. She stood up, her eyes wide, "Ne, ne…Is that true?" Four pairs of eyes shot to her, narrowing slightly at the demented girl.

Na Na tilted her head, walking forward. "So you're the intruder…" Yuka smirked, "A little girl. Hah!"

"Ne, ne…" Na Na advanced towards him, not stopping until she stood directly in front of him, and even then, she leaned in closer, until their noses were almost touching. "What the-"

"Are you…strong?" her eyes were wide, crazed with bloodlust. It was utterly terrifying, and at that moment, Yuka knew that this wasn't someone normal. This wasn't someone _sane._

He didn't feel it until he heard her laugh.

It started with a tingle at his shoulder. He glanced down, and imagine his shock when he saw her hand stuck into his shoulder, her nails acting as five sharp blades digging into his flesh. Then the tingle turned into something else, something _horrible._ He let out a strangled cry, backing away and ripping her hand out of his shoulder.

"What the heck is this girl?" he choked, clutching at his burning wound. Na Na laughed, admiring her bloodied nails. "Your blood is pretty…" she purred, "So pretty."

"Enough," Reitei snarled. "I'd deal with the intruder. You three, destroy the village."

Lucy let out a small gasp of shock, "But the people in the village had nothing to do with it!" Natsu ached to show himself, to pound the living daylights out of this 'Reitei' person. He glanced silently at the laughing Na Na, feeling a small twinge of envy that she could show herself so easily.

Finally, not being able to handle it anymore, he stood up, his head held high, "I can't stand sneaking around anymore!" He took a deep breath, filling his cheeks with fire until he greatly resembled a chipmunk. With a huff, he blew it out towards the night sky, roaring, "Your 'intruders' are right here!"

Their heads snapped to Natsu, Lucy and Gray, who had stood up as well. Na Na didn't seem shocked by Natsu's outburst. She just settled herself in a corner, licking Yuka's blood off of her fingers.

"Well, I guess we have to do this now, don't we?" Lucy took a defensive stance, her Gate Keys jingling with her movement. "How can I help?" Lyra asked enthusiastically, "Want me to sing again?"

"You, go back," Lucy sighed. "Aw, you're not fun," Lyra teased, though her words reminded them of a certain purple-eyed girl who was ravishing someone's blood just a distance away from them. With a cringe, Lucy turned on Lyra, her gaze stern. At that, Lyra poofed away, disappearing into thin air.

Sherry frowned, noticing the red crest on Natsu's arm. "That mark…They're from Fairy Tail."

"I see," Yuka said, "So the people from the village requested a guild to save them." Reitei shifted, not fazed by the extra intruders who had appeared before him, "What are you doing? Eliminate the village now."

"Why?" Natsu seemed shocked.

"Anyone who interferes or plots against me is my enemy."

"WHY?!" Natsu shouted, charging forward. But he was soon overtaken, by a certain dark-haired ice mage. Gray charged, ice forming around his fist as his pupils dilated in fury, "WHY YOU…I'LL STOP THIS CRAZY RITUAL OF YOURS!"

He slammed his fists onto the ground, and gigantic shards of ice stabbed through the ground, causing Reitei and the three to jump, in order to avoid the attack. Reitei spun in the air, and with a roar, a magic circle formed around his palm, and he slammed it onto the floor, delivering the exact same attack towards Gray.

The two attacks met in the middle, standing still for just a moment before both shattered into tiny bits, raining over the two men. "He also used ice?" Happy gasped. Gray grit his teeth, as he uttered a name, "Lyon…"

"Huh?"

"Lyon?"

"You bastard," Gray growled, "Do you have any idea what you are doing?!" Lyon smirked, a small huff of laughter escaping his thin lips, "How long has it been, Gray?"

"What's the meaning of this?" Gray demanded. Lyon ignored his question, "I can't believe _you're_ the wizard the villagers called here. Did you come knowingly? Or is this just a coincidence? Well, no matter."

"Reitei Lyon. You know him?" Yuka asked. "Go now. I can handle things here myself," Lyon commanded.

"Ehhhh…You're going so soon? Wait for me…Let's play some more!" Na Na pouted, fingering the stitches on her forearm, ripping them open slightly. Yuka sent one last glance at her, before the three disappeared simultaneously, jumping at the speed of light and heading towards the village. "You think we'll let you go so easily?!" Natsu growled, stumbling to run after them.

"Stop, Natsu! Don't move!" Gray shouted, his voice strained. The Dragon Slayer paid no heed to his warnings, continuing to run forward. Immediately, Lyon held out his palm. A light shone through it, and a gust of icy wind engulfed the Dragon Slayer. It then materialized into ice, freezing Natsu's body from his neck down.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried. Gray turned to face them. He glanced shortly at Na Na, before his gaze turned back to Lucy. He had to determine who to get to go after the three. He was pretty sure that if Setsu was her normal self, he would have asked Happy to bring her. From the looks of it, he was pretty sure Lucifer could handle it.

But this wasn't Setsu. This was Na Na, a masochistic, sadistic and psychotic girl who seemed to have the mentality of a four-year old.

Who did he trust more? The answer was clear.

"Happy! Take care of Lucy!"

"Aye!" the cat obeyed, spreading his wings and lifting Lucy into the air. Lyon held his palm out again, but before he could form an attack, Gray shot a wall of sharp ice at him, distracting him. Lyon thrust his palm towards the attack, forming an ice block, therefore letting Happy and Lucy get away unharmed.

"Dammit! I can't move!" Natsu struggled, trying to pry his limbs free. "Happy, are you abandoning Natsu?!" Lucy looked up at the Exceed. "He got encased by ice that freezes air! At this rate, we'll be turned to ice next!"

"But, what'll happen to Natsu?!" Lucy struggled. Happy grit his teeth, lowering his head as tears sprung to his eyes, "IF WE'RE ALL DONE IN, WHO'LL PROTECT THE VILLAGE?!" Lucy gasped. There was a short pause, and for a moment, all that could be heard where Happy's sniffles.

"I'm sorry…It took a lot of effort to keep yourself from helping Natsu, didn't it? I'm sure Natsu would be fine! You think ice'd work against a Salamander?"

"Aye!"

* * *

Na Na sang softly, prancing around the hooded men and trying to take a look at their faces. Gray frowned, he was pretty sure Lucy wouldn't be able to handle all three of those mages at once, but at that point, he could only send one person off. From Na Na's speed, he was sure she would be able to catch up with them, but how to get her to go after them…?

"Na Na," he called. Said girl looked up, her hand poised to stab through the chest of one of the hooded men. "…I have a toy for you."

"Really?! Where?! Where?!" Na Na squealed, her eyes darting around crazily. Gray gulped. He had to choose his words properly. His eyes were still trained on Lyon, who smirked in amusement at the conversation.

"You remember the blue-haired guy just now, right? His blood is…pretty, isn't it?"

"Yeah! Yeah!"

"He's…your new toy. And you can have the other two as well, as long as you don't touch Lucy, Natsu, Happy or me. "

"REALLY?! Yatta!" Na Na giggled, her grin growing, "Okay, I promise!" And with that, the green-haired girl disappeared.

"So you bought enough time for the woman and cat to get away? No matter…Sherry and the others should have no problems against them. Though I can't say the same for the purple-eyed girl…" Lyon trailed off. "Don't underestimate Fairy Tail wizards, you!" Natsu snapped. And just as he uttered those words, Gray shifted his gaze to the Dragon Slayer.

Without another word, he delivered a light kick to the ball of ice that encaged Natsu's body, causing him to lose his balance and fall, tumbling down the slope of the ruin with a cry, "What are you doing?!"

Gray ignored him as Natsu's cries grew further and further away, locking his eyes on the armored mage standing in front of him. "Always the one for theatrics," Lyon mused, "Wasn't he your ally?"

"You could magically explode that ice ball whenever you felt like it," Gray responded, his eyes narrowing. "So you made sure he was out of my magical power's range?" Lyon smirked, "Not bad, there."

"Enough with the elder-student act already, Lyon. You're no longer Ul's pupil!"

"Neither are you, _Gray_ ," he said the name with a mocking tone, almost as if it was an insult. He lifted his hands, removing the helmet from his head. "Since Ul's no longer in this world."

"She gave her life to seal away Deliora!" Gray roared, "You're the one trying to destroy her legacy!" Lyon scowled. His slanted eyes narrowed as he responded with a voice so empty, it sent chills down one's spine. He opened his mouth.

"Don't rewrite history. You're the one who killed Ul."

Gray jolted, his eyes widening. _What was he talking about? Ul died because-_

"And yet you lived on, unashamed, Gray."


	7. Chapter 7

"I'll say it again. You're the one who killed Ul."

Gray stood, frozen to his feet. _What was he talking about…?_

"HOW DARE YOU EVEN SPEAK HER NAME?!" Lyon roared. He thrust out his palm, shooting a shard of ice at Gray. Gray was sent flying back into the rubble with a crash. As he slid down from the impact, he struggled to get up, the force of the attack sending jolts of pain through his body.

"L-Lyon…" he choked, stumbling to his feet. "What's the matter? Is the guilt stopping you?" Lyon raised an eyebrow, "Then don't get in my way. Let me revive Deliora."

"I won't let you!" Gray growled. Lyon scoffed, tossing his helmet to the ground with a clatter, "So be it. Let's have a match, just like old times."

He extended his palm, the light shining through yet again, a magic circle appearing, "Ice Make: Eagle!" A dozen ice birds shot out of his palm, flying straight towards Gray. In response, Gray slammed his fist on his pal, "Ice Make Shield!"

As Lyon's attack neared him, a giant shield covered Gray, blocking the ice eagles from view. However, as Gray expected the ice birds to crash into the shield he had created, he was proved wrong when the birds changed directions, flying over the shield and aiming straight for Gray's defenseless body.

He let out a cry as the sharp ice made contact with his body, cutting into his flesh. "Your specialty is creating inanimate objects, Static Ice Make. My creations are creatures, Moving Ice Make. Did you forget about ice that can move?" Lyon sent yet another shard of ice at Gray, though the dark-haired mage quickly jumped out of the way, successfully dodging the attack.

"Ice Make: Hammer!" Gray roared, a giant ice hammer, probably ten times the size of an average human, appeared out of the magic circle, falling straight towards Lyon. The man smirked, simply raising two fingers on his left hand, "Ice Make: Ape!"

His defense successfully smashed Gray's hammer to smithereens. The difference in power was astounding, though both of them had trained under the same teacher. Though, from the look in Gray's eyes, he wasn't planning to give up anytime soon.

"Pitiful," Lyon mocked, "You still use two hands when you use creation magic?" Gray responded, "That's what Ul taught us, remember? If you use one hand to create, it'll be incomplete and off-balance!"

"I'm special," Lyon stated, "I've long since surpassed Ul's ability."

"Don't get a big head," Gray snapped, his pupils shrinking.

"Same to you. I wonder if you'll be able to land even a single hit on me." Gray grit his teeth, forming the hand signs, "Don't think I'm the same as I used to be! Ice Make: Geyser!"

He slammed his fists on the ground, and giant shards of ice shot up from the ground Lyon was standing on. It rose higher, the shards of ice stabbing violently and rising towards the sky. There was a short silence, when Lyon made no response, obscured by the ice.

But Gray's hopes of finally being able to stop him were shattered along with the ice of his attack a few moments later. Lyon stepped out, completely unscathed, "Same as you were. I'm the elder apprentice, and stronger than you. I could use creation magic with one hand, and you could not."

"Nothing's changed," Lyon continued, his voice mocking, "We may have travelled different paths, but both of us are frozen as we were at that time." He raised his palm, and a few moments later, without any need to shout out his attack, an ice dragon shot out from the ground, hitting Gray's body and sending him flying like a rag doll.

"That's why I'll melt the ice! In order to walk the path that was sealed." Gray collapsed to the ground limply, and yet Lyon didn't bat an eye, "My goal was Ul. Surpassing Ul was my dream. But you stole that dream from me. I thought I would never have the chance to surpass Ul again."

Lyon's eyes widened with glee, "But there was one way. If I could do what even Ul could not: Defeat Deliora…Then I can surpass Ul…I can finally dream again!"

"Are you serious?! That's your goal?!" Gray spat, getting to his feet, "You should know all too well the horror of Deliora! Stop! It's impossible!"

Lyon jerked. He trembled, his eyes widening in fury. He sent another attack straight at Gray, and another, and another, until Gray was limp on the ground, struggling to even get to his feet. "'Stop, it's impossible,' you say? That's exactly what we said to you back then…You couldn't have forgotten that!"

"IT'S BECAUSE YOU CHALLENGED DELIORA THAT UL'S DEAD!" Lyon roared, sending another attack towards Gray.

"DIE!"

* * *

Gray lay on the hard floor, utterly worn out. Not just physically, but emotionally as well. His body burned, his thoughts blurring in his brain. Why was he so weak? _Why?_ The word resounded around him like a curse. Deliora…he had seen the horrors of it.

He had seen how the teacher he had always looked up to, the teacher he had always thought of as the strongest in the world, collapse under it, ending her own life in an attempt to seal the demon away.

So why couldn't he even stop the person who wanted to revive it? Would Ul's sacrifice just be for nothing? Had she died just for Deliora to be revived due to Lyon's impossible and foolish goal of defeating it?

No, he couldn't give up. He had to get Lyon to see, to understand the foolishness of his actions. Deliora couldn't be defeated, it was just impossible. But what was he to say? He had thought of defeating Deliora before too.

And that had led to Ul's death.

 _He had killed Ul._

The thought that he had denied over the years surfaced mercilessly, choking him. A small part of him had always thought that way, he realized. He had just denied it, over and over again even as he relived the moment of her death every single night.

And that denial had successfully locked the thought at the back of his mind. Yet, this thought had been let out again by Lyon. It was true, he _had_ killed Ul. Gray didn't know if he could live with that. What was the point of living, really? He had killed one of the most important people to him, all because of his own foolishness.

As he lay there, the cold hitting him hard like no other snow storm had ever had, he started to think. What was the point of this? He was weak, he was useless. He stood no chance against Lyon, and after a completely one-sided battle, he was lying there uselessly, struggling to even keep his eyes open.

A feeling of déjà vu washed over him.

 **-Flashback-**

" _What's the matter? Is that all you got?" Ul asked, her voice resounding around the half-unconscious Gray. The young Gray lay face down in the snow, his consciousness ebbing away despite him struggling to keep his eyes open._

" _Wake up, Gray…"_

 _-_ **End ofFlashback-**

"Wake up, Gray!" a voice shot him out of his memory, jolting him. Natsu.

The Dragon Slayer looked down at him, his body still encased in a ball of ice. "How lame…You got butt-whupped good…"

"Natsu…why are you here?" Gray groaned. He still lay with his face down on the ground, his muscles refusing to cooperate with him to let him sit up and take a look at the pink-haired mage. "I didn't know which direction the village was in, so I climbed back up to a high spot. Over there!"

The fire mage grabbed hold of the back of Gray's shirt, lifting him up with ease, "Let's go." The ice mage looked up with swollen eyes, "Wait! I can still walk…" It was a lie. He could barely crane his neck to look up at Natsu, much less take a step without falling flat on his face.

"Where's Lyon?" he groaned, struggling to get to his feet. "Dunno. No one's here. The ceremony's over, too."

The ice mage toppled over, about to land on his face, but Natsu, expecting this, nonchalantly grabbed hold of his shirt again, before he could fall. With a huff, he lifted Gray up, slinging him over the part of ice covering his shoulders. "Crap! If Lucy's in trouble, then it's our fault!"

 **-Flashback-**

" _Stop! You'll never be able to defeat Deliora! It's impossible for you, Gray!" Ul shouted._

" _I'm gonna do an S-Class Quest!" Natsu insisted._

" _They're called S-Class for a reason! Cos' they're way outta your league!"_

 **-End of Flashback-**

"Natsu…"

"Huh?"

"I have no right to say anything to you…" The Dragon Slayer remained quiet. "No right at all…" The tears streamed down the ice mage's cheeks, as he bit his lip, trying to stop the next onslaught of tears.

"YOU GONNA SIT THERE MOPING ALL DAY COS YOU LOST, GRAY?!" Natsu erupted, fire spewing out of his mouth. Gray jolted, shocked. "WE'RE FAIRY TAIL, DAMN IT! THE GUILD THAT DOESN'T KNOW THE MEANING OF 'STOP'! WE ONLY KNOW HOW TO KEEP RUNNING FORWARD!"

With that, the fire mage let out a huff, waddling forward. "Damn it! It's _really_ hard to run like this!"

* * *

Na Na giggled as she looked over a villager. "Ne, ne…Are you a demon? I've never played with a demon before…Ne, ne…Play with me!"

"S-Setsu-san…?" the villager stuttered, obviously stunned by her strange attitude.

Na Na laughed, pulling on his arms, "Ne, ne…Play with me!"

"It's not the time for that, Na Na!" Happy cried, trying to pull Na Na away from the villager. Lucy stood, her tone serious, "There you have it. The people who are coming to attack are to blame for doing this to your bodies!"

"They're coming here?"

"Yes. But on the bright side, this is your chance to capture them!" Lucy insisted, her gaze determined. Yet, the villagers seemed unsure, as murmurs spread through the crowd.

"Can we really pull that off?"

"Will it work?"

"Seriously?"

Happy added in, "Those three are probably wizards, so they won't be captured so easily." Lucy nodded, "Yeah. We have the advantage when it comes to numbers, but we still have no wizards."

"What? You're not planning on fighting, Lucy? And what about Sets- I mean, Na Na?" Happy seemed shocked, his eyes wide. "Well, Na Na is…well…a little…" Lucy trailed off, and Happy found himself agreeing with her. That was when the blonde clapped her hands together, her eyes brightening, "I just thought of the perfect plan!"

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Happy commented. Na Na paid no heed to her words, just giggling and scrutinizing the villagers. "What's the meaning of all this ruckus?" a new voice joined in the conversation, and the chief walked in, his gaze stern. Lucy clenched her fists, "Please listen! Enemies would be attacking this village soon."

"Enemies?" he echoed.

"They've been staying at the ruins in the forest, and they're the ones who turned your bodies into demons!"

"Who cares?!" the chief erupted, raising his staff high in the air, "Haven't you destroyed the moon yet?!" Lucy backed away, flustered, "W-Well, there's no need to destroy the moon…If we just catch the ones responsible…"

"THE MOON! DESTROY THE MOON!" the chief insisted as he flailed around violently. Two villagers came up to restrain him, each taking one arm. The frail chief struggled against their hold, as they tried to calm him down, "Chief! Please calm down!"

"Now, come this way!"

Lucy watched on with a sad gaze, her expression empathetic. "Ne, ne…What happened?" Na Na asked, tugging on Lucy's arm. "Is he upset because I didn't play with him? I can go and play with him now…"

"Eh? No, no! You don't have to play with him! You…You can play with the enemies later on, okay? I-I'm sure they'll be glad to play with you!" Lucy stammered.

Another villager stepped up, "Please don't mind the chief. It's because of what happened to his son, Bobo…"

"Yeah. Anyway, we're going to capture the enemies," Lucy's gaze turned determined as she turned to face the villager. "But how?" the villager questioned. Lucy just smirked, letting out a small laugh, "Just leave this to the great Lucy-sama, Fairy Tail's number-one Celestial Wizard! This is going to work like a charm, just watch!"

She reached into her pouch, pulling out a Gold Gate Key, "Gate of the Maiden, I open thee…Virgo!" The sound of a doorbell sounded, and a pink-haired girl burst from under the ground, chains around her wrists and dressed in a maid's costume. She bowed politely, her eyes closed, "You called for me, Princess?"

"Cute!"

"So this is a maid?"

"I can't get enough!"

The villagers swarmed around Virgo, hearts in their eyes as they squiggled, greatly resembling jellyfish as they stared at her in infatuation.

"What type of reaction is this?" Lucy deadpanned, sweat dropping.

* * *

"Princess, preparations are complete," Virgo addressed Lucy. Lucy smiled in gratitude, "Thanks, Virgo. You're always so fast."

"You wish to punish me?" Virgo asked.

"That was a compliment!" Lucy barked. Na Na looked at Virgo with an expression one could only identify as adore, though rather different from the ones that the villagers sent to the maid. Her eyes gleamed in fascination, her grin widening in a twisted way. It was similar to the look she had sent to the frozen Deliora.

"Um, well…" Happy started, looking up at Lucy. The blonde turned to look at him, "What is it, Happy?"

The blue cat raised his paw, as if to further emphasize his point, "I really think that you might actually be an idiot, Lucy."

The girl sweat dropped in response, obviously not expecting the insult. Happy continued, "I can't imagine that they'd fall for such a childish trick." Lucy ignored him, smirking proudly, "What are you talking about? This pitfall is perfect!"

"Yeah, see…That's exactly why you're an idiot," Happy insisted.

Na Na's eyes drifted away from Virgo, landing on a suspicious circle – or more precisely, a pitfall recognizable even with the slightest of glances, hastily covered by leaves and a thin layer of dirt – sitting right in front of the front gate. "Ne, ne…What's it for? To catch toys?"

"Yeah, to catch your new toys, Na Na!" Happy smiled. He had gotten rather used to her antics, and honestly, he had gotten rather comfortable after realizing their luck of having Na Na on their side -He would probably jump off a cliff rather than deal with her as an opponent.

And besides, it was rather easy to satisfy her, or 'manipulate' her to do what they wanted her to do, but in a good way, of course. All they had to do was give her a 'toy', or in proper terms, a person for her to torture. 'Play', in Na Na's terms. And in this case, there were four people they were pretty willing to offer to her as 'toys'.

"There's only one entrance to this village, right?" Lucy interrupted the Exceed's thoughts, "Which means that the enemy is sure to come in that way."

"I don't think there's a single person who would fall for that," Happy deadpanned, glancing at the pitfall.

"M-Me either," a citizen agreed timidly. "Actually, neither do I," another added. "I don't think it would work to catch any of my toys…" Na Na giggled. "Princess, I concur as well," Virgo added in, making Lucy blow up, "Even you?!" She pouted, obviously disgruntled by their doubts of her 'perfect' plan, "Just watch, all of you."

"Ms. Lucy! Someone is coming!" a man shouted from the top of the gate. "They're here already? Open the gate!"

"Right!" There was a loud rumble as the gates lifted, making Na Na squeal in anticipation. "Now, come to mama," Lucy chuckled darkly. The sight that greeted them made their eyes pop out of their sockets.

Natsu, his body still frozen in a large ball of ice, was waddling towards them with a half-unconscious Gray strapped over him. "Everyone, you okay?!" he cried, waddling faster at the sight of them.

"EHHHHH?!" Lucy screamed.

"N-NATSU!" Happy shouted.

Na Na broke into laughter, tears streaming down her cheeks as she pointed at him and clutched her stomach, rolling on the ground in laughter.

If Happy wasn't so shocked, he would have realized that it was the first time Na Na had laughed at something not…gory. "Stop! Don't come any closer!" Lucy waved her arms, trying to get Natsu to stop. "What?" the Dragon Slayer continued waddling forward, making Lucy panic more, "Stop, I said! Stop!"

Natsu skidded to a stop, right in front of the pitfall. Lucy let out a sigh of relief, relaxing. But it wasn't time for her to relax yet, for Natsu had noticed the suspicious circle in front of him. "What's this?" He stepped in unknowingly, and for a short moment, nothing happened.

And then it gave way.

He fell with a cry, landing at the bottom with a dull thud and a crash. The people at the top were utterly speechless, looking at the pitfall silently.

"T-There was someone who actually fell for it," one villager finally managed to get out. "Didn't expect that…" another commented. Natsu yelled from the bottom, unmoving, "Hey, hey, hey! Who the hell put a hole here?!" Happy shrugged his shoulders in response, "Lucy, obviously."

"I knew it!" Natsu yelled, an irk mark appearing at his forehead. Lucy sobbed, her hands on either sides of her face in horror, "You've got it all wrong!"

Happy glanced down the hole at his best friend, "I'm glad you and Gray are safe, though!" The Dragon Slayer responded with a shout, "There's nothing to be glad about! Gray's outta commission!" Lucy leaned down, "He got beat by the masked guy?"

"Whoa! Ne, ne…Is he dead?" Na Na asked, a devious grin growing on her face. Natsu ignored them, "Eh? The ice came off!" Sure enough, his body was free from the ice prison, and he could finally move freely without having to waddle around everywhere he went, "Even though fire didn't work?"

Lucy laughed awkwardly, her eyes shifting, "J-Just like I planned!" Virgo added, "Perhaps the magic had weakened due to the distance between the caster and the victim."

After getting them out of the hole, Gray was settled gently on the floor. He made no response whatsoever, completely unconscious. Na Na found this amusing, "He's not dead? Then what is he? Asleep?"

"Y-yeah, that's a way to put it…" Lucy answered. Na Na giggled, squatting down beside him. She poked his cheek with her finger, and when he still made no response, she sharpened her nails, her eyes glinting as she aimed straight as his chest.

It had happened so fast, even Natsu was shocked at his reflexes. He grabbed her wrist, just millimeters away from Gray's skin. The sharp move had caused Gray's clothes to tear at the point she had aimed to pierce, from the blunt force of the attack.

"Na Na," he growled warningly. The name rolled off his tongue strangely. It sounded so… _foreign._ Natsu wanted Setsu back. Na Na pouted, "I just wanted to pl – Ah!" Her eyes flashed as she remembered Gray's words.

" _You remember the blue-haired guy just now, right? His blood is…pretty, isn't it?"_

" _He's…your new toy. And you can have the other two as well, as long as you don't touch Lucy, Natsu, Happy or me. "_

"I'm not touching!" Na Na screamed, making the others jolt back in shock. Na Na backed away fast, her body crouched against one of the villager's cabins, a good ten meters away from where she had been moments ago. "I'm not touching!" she screamed again, pushing her bare palms forward to show Natsu.

"S-See? Not…Not touching. I'm not touching! I can…I can still have my toy…right?"

Natsu blinked, utterly shocked. He remembered hearing Gray making some sort of deal with her at the ruins, something about her getting the three mages as toys on the condition that she didn't touch any of them. He just hadn't expected her to take it so seriously. From what he had learnt of Na Na, she had never taken things seriously.

But now, this girl was crouching in a corner, so _scared_ that he was going to take her 'toy' away from her. Scared was an underestimation, Natsu realized, as the purple-eyed girl started to tremble before him. No, she wasn't scared. Na Na was _terrified._

"Yeah, you can still have your toy, Na Na," he spoke slowly, as if he was speaking to a child. Na Na ceased her trembling, looking up at him, "R-Really?"

"Yeah."

Na Na grinned happily, wiping her eyes of her tears as she stood up. She immediately reverted to her old self, giggling and prancing around while touching the villager's horns and spikes. Natsu felt a small smile creep up his lips, though he had no idea why.

Of course, when Setsu had suddenly changed and turned into this…Na Na person, he had been utterly frustrated with her. He found it weird and absolutely disturbing when she started to injure herself, stabbing at her own flesh, her eyes widening with glee with every stab. It was horrible, disgusting. Adding in the fact that she had thrown him into a wall when he had tried to help her.

Who the hell liked pain, anyways? It wasn't normal, in his opinion. Na Na wasn't normal. She was basically a psychotic, sadistic four-year-old, who only got upset when she couldn't have her toys. Yeah, that was it, so what was this fondness he was starting to develop for this…child?

It wasn't the romantic type of fondness, no, absolutely not. Natsu grimaced at the thought of having someone like _Na Na_ as his partner in love. No, he'd rather Gray be his lover instead. The fondness he felt was something like…how he felt towards Igneel.

Like…family. Yeah, just like family. It was only a tad different from what he felt towards Setsu. He had thought of Setsu as his nakama, someone he enjoyed being with and working together with, just like how he felt towards the rest of the Fairy Guild members. What he had started to feel towards Na Na was something else, though he didn't really want to admit it. Something more of like…a sibling.

She was like a psychotic baby sister. Though her sadistic and masochistic ways scared the crap out of everyone, it was only a matter of understanding her…preferences, in a way. She was just a child in a teenager's body, and you could bribe her with toys just like how one would bribe a normal child with the latest toy robot model.

Her toys were just…special. That was all. He snapped out of his thoughts abruptly as more important matters pressed into his head.

"They still haven't shown up yet?" he asked Lucy. The blonde nodded, "True, they're taking their time. Even though they left for the village before you, and yet you got here first, Natsu."

"Yeah, and it really took me a while, too."

Lucy simply smiled, raising her fist, "This is our chance. Cover the hole back up, hurry!" Natsu sweat dropped, "You're still going for the pitfall plan?" Just as Lucy opened her mouth to reply, she was interrupted by a villager. He pointed to the night sky, his eyes wide, "W-What's that?"

The group looked up instinctively. Na Na squinted slightly, her eyes widening with fascination as she saw what looked like a giant blue rat flying in the sky, its tail spinning in circles, acting as a propeller. It held a giant bucket in its paws. "WHOA! Ne, ne…Can I have that as my toy, too?"

Her question was ignored, much to her disappointment. But it didn't bother her much, for the deal was only for her not to touch Happy, the blonde, the ice mage and Natsu. It was only a matter of time before she could have her new collection of toys!

"From the sky?!" Lucy exclaimed angrily, "My pitfall's pointless!"

Three figures stood on top of the blue-rat, looking down on the villagers. "Preparing the nuke'em jelly took quite a while," Sherry commented. Yuka, now sporting a white bandage hastily wrapped around his wound on his shoulder, replied, "But this'll be perfect. Those damn wizards have all gathered at the village."

"Our wishes cannot be fulfilled until Deliora is completely destroyed. Only death awaits those who stand in our way," Sherry stated. The bucket swayed slightly, and a droplet of foreign green liquid dripped out.

It fell towards Lucy, seemingly harmless as it dropped. "Jelly?" Lucy questioned, slightly confused. She raised her hands to catch the droplet, and just as it was about to fall…

"Lucy!" Natsu charged, yanking her out of the way as he took a dive. The droplet of green fluid fell to the ground, and the villagers watched with growing horror as a sizzling sound sounded, white smoke emitting from the blob. It cleared, revealing a hole in the ground, the dirt eaten away by the green fluid they could now identify as acid.

"What the heck is that dangerous smell?" Natsu hissed.

"Whoa! Ne, ne… Pour down some more!" Na Na cheered, spreading her arms wide in excitement. The villagers failed to share her enthusiasm as they started to panic, scurrying around in look for shelter to shield themselves from the oncoming danger.

"The bucket is filled with _that_?!"

"They're gonna pour it all over!"

Yuka raised a thick eyebrow at the scene below him. "Hideous. Moon Drip turns humans into these hideous things?"

"They're almost like Deliora's demon pawns… How unpleasant. Angelica, if you'll do the honor." With a resounding squeak, the rat swung the bucket to the side, flinging it towards the ground. A wave of green fluid flew out, dropping at a fast speed towards the village.

"How are we supposed to defend against this?!" Lucy screamed. Na Na squealed, laughing hysterically as she spread her arms wider, as if welcoming the acid. Natsu charged forward, his gaze set, "Everyone, gather at the center of the village! Happy, let's fly!"

"Aye, sir!"

The villagers scattered, all charging towards the center of the village as per Natsu's instructions. "I-I'm not moving from Bobo's grave!" the chief cried, holding the grave tightly.

"Chief, I understand how you feel, but…"

The Dragon Slayer took a giant leap into the air, the flying cat catching him by the shoulders as they soared towards the acid. "With a flaming right hand and a flaming left hand…" Natsu chanted, balls of fire igniting on his arms, "When you combine the flames together…" He slammed his fists together, the flames spreading over his body until his entire body was enshrouded with flames.

He lifted his palms in the air, the fire transferring up to his palms, a fire ball twice the size of his body rapidly growing, " **Dazzling Blaze of the Fire Dragon**!"

He threw his palms forward, the ball of fire shooting out towards the center of the blob of acid. There was a bright light, before a deafening boom travelled through the air, the explosion blasting the acid outwards to the sides of the village.

"He blasted it outwards?!" Yuka gasped.

"He's a fire wizard!" Sherry cursed.

The droplets of acid rained towards the sides of the village, leaving the center of the village, where everyone was gathered, much to the disappointment of Na Na, completely safe. A large droplet fell, aiming straight for Bobo's grave, where the chief still lay unmoving.

"Chief!" a villager cried.

Smoke emitted from the grave, the chief obscured from their view. As they started to fear for the worst, their worries were cast aside when a figure appeared from the smoke. Virgo stood, the Chief safe in her arms.

"The village chief presented for punishment."

"Virgo!"

Na Na reached her arm outwards, trying to catch a droplet of acid, but Lucy pulled her back, trying to get her back into the safety of the center. The smoke cleared, revealing the pit the acid had caused. Only the center of the village was left unharmed, as everyone looked down at the mess.

"The village is totally dissolved…"

"How awful…"

"Is anybody hurt?"

"Ne, ne, Lucy!" Na Na squealed. She had learnt the name of the blonde Celestial Wizard, and she seemed to had grown quite attached to her, "Look, look!"

She held her arm out proudly to the blonde. Lucy's jaw dropped, her eyes widening with horror. Her face paled as she scrambled away from Na Na, closing her eyes to get rid of the disturbing image.

It looked like Na Na had successfully caught a droplet of acid on her right forearm, the forearm that was still untouched from her stitches. The flesh was melting off, sizzling as it ate away the flesh of her arm. She watched with wide eyes, grinning as the smoke cleared slightly to reveal the bone of her arm.

"So pretty…" she gasped, turning her arm around. It was as if she had seen a beautiful gem or something, as her eyes sparkled with adore.

"Na Na! W-We need to treat that!" Lucy screamed, rushing forward despite not wanting to see the arm again. "Yadda! Yadda!" Na Na screamed, running away from Lucy. But that was when she stopped in her tracks, the sound of a rock, or more precisely, the tombstone of Bobo's grave, being kicked sounding in her ears.

"We must eliminate all of Reitei-sama's enemies," Sherry said, "Even after we tried to mercifully give them an instant death. It seems a lot of blood must be spilled."

Na Na's eyes widened. It was those guys…those guys from the ruins. _Her new toys…_

"50 people in the village. 3 wizards. That should take 15 minutes," Yuka smirked. "Let's go," Natsu growled. "Yeah," Lucy stood upright as Happy raised a paw, "I'm going too. 4 wizards."

"B-Bobo's grave…" the Chief stammered, his eyes wide in disbelief. "How dare they…How dare they destroy Bobo's grave?! Unforgivable!" he roared, struggling to get out of the hold of the villagers as they held him back from attacking the enemy.

"You can't, Chief!"

"We should all escape from here!"

"We'll get caught up in a fight between wizards!"

"Someone take the Chief!"

There was a short groan, and a certain dark-haired ice mage stumbled to his feet. "I…can fight too."

"Gray?" Lucy gasped, "You regained consciousness?" Natsu frowned, "Get outta here. You'll be in my way."

"Natsu, don't underestimate me!" Gray growled, before the Dragon Slayer delivered a hard punch to his gut. Gray choked. "The injured should sleep it off," Natsu insisted. "You bastard…" Gray choked out, his voice barely a whisper, "One day I'll…kill…"

He trailed off as he slumped over, unconscious yet again. Natsu caught him before he could fall. "Why'd he do that?" Lucy questioned. Happy responded, easily understanding the fire mage's actions, "That's just Natsu's compassion. Gray's not in any shape to fight right now."

"So that's the bond between Fairy Tail wizards…" Lucy trailed off.

But that was when a laugh erupted into the air. All eyes turned to a certain purple-eyed girl. Her laugh, one that Lucy had heard many times that day, but still couldn't get used to. It was full of… _emptiness._ Strange, but it was the only way to describe it.

It was just… _insane. Hyterical. Loony._

Just… _scary._

Na Na was crouched before the three enemies, her stance resembling that of a wild animal's. Her head was lowered, her dark green hair curtaining her face as her laugh slowly died down into a chuckle.

Her head snapped up, her crazed purple eyes wide. She tilted her head, her eyes locked onto the enemy.

" _Ne, ne…You're my new toy, right? Let's…play."_


	8. Chapter 8

"Take care of Gray, okay?" Lucy entrusted the ice mage to a villager, who swung the unconscious man over his shoulder with ease. "Leave him to us. Okay, let's go!"

The villagers turned to leave, but were stopped in their tracks by Sherry's voice, "We won't let you escape. Reitei-sama has ordered us to wipe you all out. Angelica!"

The giant rat let out a squeak at her master's command, leaping into the air, her tail spinning in circles to act as a propeller as she dived, dangerously close, over the top of Natsu, Na Na and Lucy. Na Na laughed, tilting her head slightly to avoid being hit by the rat, and Natsu successfully avoided the rat as well, but the same couldn't be said for a certain Celestial wizard.

"I'm a member of Fairy Tail too!" Lucy started off determined, but her declaration ended off with a scream as she was carried off into the air by Angelica. "AH! I GOT TOO GUNG-HO AND GRABBED ON!"

The blonde was now clinging onto the rat's claw, as the rat soared over the destroyed village. "Yup, she's an idiot!" Happy confirmed. "She's nuts!" Natsu groaned.

"Stop this instant! Don't lay a claw on the villagers!" Lucy cried, trying to punch the rat's claw. It had no effect whatsoever, for the rat was twenty times the size of Lucy herself, and barely felt an itch. "Who does she think she is?" Sherry scoffed from Angelica's back. But the blonde, unwilling to give up, reached up towards the rat's paw.

A devious smirk spread across her lips as she started to tickle it, "How about this?" Sherry smirked, "That's not going to work, you know."

But just as Sherry uttered those words, the blue rat let out a loud squeak, stiffening. "A-Angelica?!" The tail stopped spinning abruptly, as the rat started to squeak in laughter, clutching at its sides and kicking its claws back and forth in the air. "W-What are you doing?! If you stop your tail…"

And as if on cue, the rat plummeted to the ground, travelling at a dangerously fast speed towards the ground. Screams sounded through the air as Na Na began to laugh lightly at them. They landed with a loud thud in the middle of the forest, sending mini earthquakes through the ground. "Ne, ne…Is Lucy dead?"

Na Na giggled at her own question. "Someone's gonna be ticked…" Yuka commented nonchalantly.

"I'm not ticked!" Toby barked.

"Not you, idiot."

"She okay, you think?" Natsu questioned, "Hope she's not crushed." Happy sighed, "She'd be dead if she was crushed. I'll go take a look." Wings appeared at Happy's back as he took off into the air. "Right. Countin' on ya."

"Is she crushed? Ne, ne…If she was crushed she would look real funny, won't she? With her skull squashed like an orange and her brains spilling out. Hehe!" Na Na giggled, clutching her stomach as she keeled over in laughter, "Ne, ne…Happy, I want to see! Bring me!"

"Na Na, how about your toys?" Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yea! I still have my toys…Ne, ne, Happy…Can you take a picture for me if Lucy's crushed? I reaaaallllyyyy want to see!"

"A-Aye!" the Exceed saluted, flying off towards the forest. "We'd clean things up here," Natsu turned his gaze to Toby and Yuka. Without any warning, he leapt off his feet, aiming straight for Toby. He head-butted the dog-man, sending him flying with a whine. Inhaling deeply, he turned, his gaze locked on Yuka as he blew a fireball at him.

"Those are some ferocious flames you have there," Yuka chuckled, as the fire blew out to reveal him, completely unscathed, with a blue barrier surrounding him, "Could you be Fairy Tail's Salamander that I've heard rumors about?"

Natsu didn't reply, his eyes darting to Toby as he sprung from the ground unharmed. "We were once wizards from a well-known guild. You won't beat us so easily. If I mention the wizard's guild Lamia Scale, does that ring a bell? Exactly, that's were 'Hard Iron' Jera was-"

Before he could continue, Yuka stiffened. Something was behind him, something _bad._ "Peekaboo," a voice giggled in his ear. What was that voice? So undeniably terrifying, so undeniably murderous. That single whisper had him shivering, and whatever this thing was, he didn't want to face it.

He didn't have a choice, though. He would never be defeated by anyone. So he grit his teeth, turning to face Na Na, an attack ready in his hands. But that was when he felt something on his hand. Pain? Yes, definitely pain. It came from his index finger of his right hand, a horrible burning pain that spread to his palm and up his arm, before fanning out to his chest. He didn't dare to look down at his hand.

Because he already knew what she had done.

Na Na giggled, holding his fingernail between her thumb and index finger. Blood dripped from it, a small piece of flesh dangling from the nail. "Ne, ne…Your nails are really pretty! I'm going to add them to my collection!"

Natsu grimaced at the sight, before smirking. He spread his arms out on either side of him, two geysers of fire shooting out of his palm, one aiming for Yuka and the other for Toby. Both put up their defenses, while Na Na stood directly in the path of the fire, sticking her leg out so it could get scorched.

When the fire cleared, she let out a squeal of delight. "Ne, ne, Natsu! Look, my leg's on fire! Doesn't it smell nice?" No, it didn't. The odor of burning flesh hit Natsu's nostrils, a smell that he had gotten used to, but still hadn't come to like. "Na Na, put it out before you kill yourself."

He turned back to face the enemy, Yuka having put up the same blue shield he had earlier on. "Never heard of them," Natsu scoffed, "It doesn't matter what guild you're from or who you know. You are getting in the way of me completing this job."

His pupils shrunk, his eyes widening in rage, "In other words, you're the enemy of Fairy Tail. That's all the reason I need to fight."

"Toby, back off. I can handle this guy by myself," Yuka mocked, "You take the girl." Truth to be said, it wasn't just because he was irritated by Natsu's words that he wanted to fight the Dragon Slayer. His instincts told him that he wouldn't be able to handle the girl, and that aura radiating from her… No, he would rather not deal with her.

"Na Na, you handle the dog guy. I'm fightin' this dude here," Natsu nudged her on the shoulder. But the girl remained frozen, as if rooted to the spot. "N-Na Na?" She didn't respond, as she crouched down on the floor, hiding her face from view. _This is the same as earlier…in the cave._

"Na Na?" he repeated. When there was still no response, he looked up, trying to see if either Toby or Yuka were responsible for the change. When he found nothing but amused stares from them, he looked back down at the girl. "Looks like she's chickening out," Yuka mocked.

But just as the words escaped his mouth, the girl's head shot up. "Na Na?"

"Natsu?" she slurred. Golden eyes stared back at him in confusion. "S-Setsu?"

"Yeah," she frowned, her head pounding slightly, "Not Na Na."

She had awoken in a familiar dark room, with nothing but a small screen in it. The screen showed what she could see, but somehow, the things that she did, and the things that she said, she was unable to control.

It was just like an RPG game, seeing everything from Na Na's point of view, the only difference being her disability to control what she did.

 _Just like usual._

She could hear Na Na's thoughts. It sounded in her brain as if they were her own. That made her understand the psychotic girl's decisions and her ways, though she had been shocked at the girl's masochistic and sadistic ways at the start.

That was how she always understood them, just as they understood her.

 _No, no. Focus. This isn't the right time._

Her eyes locked onto Yuka and Toby, who were observing her with keen interest.

He body ached all over, the burn from Natsu's flames on her leg, the arm which's flesh had been burnt off from the acid, the other arm which had been mutilated and stitched up messily as decoration, all those injuries combined together made the girl keel over, ready to vomit her guts out.

But she swallowed it down, for she had more important things to deal with now. _**Setsu? Are you a Setsu?**_ The voice rang in her head, startling her slightly. It was a childish voice, one that sounded like her own, but at the same time not quite her own.

 _Na Na?_

 _ **Hehe! Yeah!**_

But no, that wasn't possible...The others couldn't speak in her mind like this...

"Enough nonsense," Yuka's voice snapped her out of her slight trance, "Wave!" He thrust his palm outwards towards Natsu. A blue sphere erupted from it, expanding towards the Dragon Slayer, "Setsu, take the dog guy! I'll blow this away!"

Setsu jumped out of the way of Yuka's attack, heading straight for Toby. "Hell Gates: Lucifer," she chanted emotionlessly, the magic circle forming around one palm she had stretched behind her, as she clenched her other fist, somersaulting in the air to add more speed to her attack, and punched Toby straight in the face.

The dog man let out a cry, stumbling back and falling onto the ground yet again. At the same time, a silver haired man appeared out of the magic circle. His eyes narrowed when he saw her, "Setsu Tartar-"

"Now's not the time, Lucifer. Time for battle."

The man turned to face Toby, raising an eyebrow at him. "I see. Very well, M'lady," he hissed, his fangs elongating as he crouched, his stance resembling that of a predatory animal hunting its prey. Toby, completely recovered from Setsu's punch, growled back.

"Don't underestimate me, yo! I'm stronger than Yuka, see! Paralyze Claw: Mega-Jellyfish!" Toby crossed his arms over his chest, his nails turning green and elongating until they were three inches long, "These claws have got a secret hidden within them!"

"Lucifer, careful with those nails. They'll paralyze you."

"Yes, M'lady."

Toby's jaw dropped, his eyes bugging out of their sockets, "How did you know?!" Setsu didn't respond, "Let's go, Lucifer."

With that, they disappeared from view. Toby's eyes darted around, trying to locate the two. "Over here," a whisper sounded in his ear. He spun around, his claw reaching to attack her, but it only met thin air.

"Idiot," Setsu mocked from behind him. This time, she let him spin around, his teeth sharpening in irritation, "Don't call me an idiot!" He swiped his claws at her, and she simply tilted to the side, dodging him with ease.

"One touch from these claws and it's all over!" Another miss.

"You'll be shaking like a leaf waiting only for death!" Another miss.

" _You really are an idiot,_ " Setsu sighed, as Lucifer raised an eyebrow behind him, chopping him at the back of his neck nonchalantly. Toby fell to the ground, unconscious. "Good work, Lucifer. I thought that he'd be stronger, I wouldn't have called you out if I knew he was such an idiot."

"Now that that's done and over with, Setsu Tartaros, you still have to explain yourself to me! Wha-"

"Sorry, Lucifer. I'm having a headache now, we'll talk later," Setsu sighed, raising her palm again. He sighed, "Yes, my lady." With that, he was sent back to Hell.

Setsu walked slowly towards the unconscious Toby. She gently lifted his wrist, careful not to touch his claws, and poked him with his own claw. Hopefully, that would keep him unconscious for a while longer.

 _ **Whoa! Ne, ne…Can I play with Lucifer too? Oh, I want to play with the dog boy too!**_

 _Of course, Na Na. But I'd have to ask Lucifer first, alright? We can get as many toys as you want soon._

Na Na's laugh and squeal of joy resounded in her head, and Setsu felt a warm smile creeping up her face. With a huff, she turned to look at Natsu, who just finished his match with Yuka.

"Those guys really did some pretty terrible stuff," Natsu heaved the tombstone of Bobo's grave up, setting in back in place, "But I'm gonna make sure the village and everyone goes back to the way they were. Bet on it!"

Setsu's gaze softened as she walked forward, placing a gentle hand on Natsu's shoulder.

"I'm gonna get you justice."

* * *

"So, what was that about?" Natsu asked out of the blue, as Setsu struggled to treat the wounds Na Na had inflicted on herself. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, what was _that_ about? You know, Na Na and all that purple eye stuff?"

Setsu let out a sigh, turning her head slightly. She knew they were going to ask, of course they would. She had just gone and shown them another personality, one with a different alias, one that was completely different from her normal self.

She hadn't wanted to tell them. She knew she had to, but she couldn't. It was a disorder, something that people had mocked her about, had bullied her about. She had thought that it was over, that it wouldn't bother her anymore. But it just didn't go away. A new personality, _again._

"…Ne, Natsu. Do you know what D.I.D is?"

"D.I.D?"

"Dissociative Identity Disorder. Otherwise known as Multiple Personality Disorder."

"Multiple personality? So you mean that you have different personalities?"

"…Yeah, I mean exactly that. It's like being many different people all at once, I guess. Just like how Na Na seemed like a complete different person."

Natsu shot up, his eyes sparkling, "So…SO COOL!"

Setsu smiled sadly, "Just what I'd expect from you."

"Wait, you said many different people…you mean you have others? Like, other than Na Na?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't catch on to that," Setsu sighed, running her hand through her hair, and wincing when one of the stitches on her forearm got caught in her unruly hair, "Yeah…There's…two others."

Silence lapped over the two. Natsu waited patiently. He never was someone who had much patience, but he could tell that it was hard for her to tell him. He could see the amount of effort it took, and her constant glances of doubt and fear she shot at him told him that it wasn't an easy feat.

"I don't care, you know."

"What?" Setsu's head shot up in shock.

"I don't care if you have different personalities. I don't care if you have a third eye, a pair of horns, webbed feet or the ugliest face in history. You're my friend, and I'm just going to accept whatever comes with you."

Setsu bit her quivering lip. _I'm not worth it,_ she wanted to say, _I'm not worth being your friend. You deserve better than me._ But she couldn't get those words out. How could she, when he was saying the words she had always dreamed of hearing, the words that she had been _dying_ to hear?

 _But what are you going to give him back in return? Suffering?_ The voice sounded harshly at the back of her head, causing her to flinch. Not just from the intensity of the words, but because of how true she knew the words to be. Her powers were negative; they only served to bring suffering.

Being their friend would cause them to suffer. But no matter how she knew it was the right thing to push them away, she simply couldn't bring herself to. _Finally,_ she had found people she could trust. Finally, she wouldn't have to lurk in the darkness, having no one to talk to, no one to confide in.

Her disorder had been her weakness, her Achilles Heel. Her parents had been utterly disgusted when they found out. _A baby with scary powers, and now this?_ The other children had out-casted her, the people in the village had judged her.

And here there was someone, someone who was willing to accept her despite her powers and differences. How could she push him away?

The tears streamed down her cheeks, her body wrecking from the onslaught of tears. "H-Hey, don't cry! What're you crying about?!"

Setsu flung herself onto Natsu, her arms wrapping around his neck as she sobbed, her face buried in his shoulder. She didn't respond, her tears streaming endlessly down her face as she sniffed. She didn't know what she would do if he had judged her, out-casted her. Because she was different.

One would think that she would hate her disorder because of the way it led to people's harsh treatments towards her, but Setsu couldn't bring herself to hate it.

Because those personalities were the reason she held on.

Those personalities had been created on her fear, on her loneliness. They were the ones who protected her, who took the burden when she couldn't. A certain memory had been locked away in her brain, one her other personalities knew about, but she didn't. Whatever that memory was, it had been horrifying, Setsu had no doubt.

It was that memory that created them, after all.

But why would a new personality come out now? Setsu had no idea, but she didn't want to know why either.

Because whatever the reason was, it wasn't anything good.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey there! Sorry for not updating yesterday - I am really going hard at this story and trying to update everyday, because I'll be busy soon and might not be able to update this story as frequently. Hope you like the new chapter!**

* * *

Lucy huffed, her body nearly collapsing on the ground from utter fatigue. She had just defeated Sherry, and it was by no means an easy battle. She flinched as the rock statue Sherry had manipulated collapsed uselessly on the ground.

"Even if the flames of my life were to be snuffed out," the pink-haired girl said dramatically as she fell to the floor, "There is no untruth to my love for Reitei-sama."

"You're not going to die, drama queen," Lucy laughed, as Sherry fell half-unconscious on the ground. But Lucy's hopes of her battle finally being over was crushed when Sherry opened her mouth just before she fainted.

"Angelica…Avenge me."

A loud squeak resounded from behind Lucy, the giant rat flinging itself forward towards the Celestial Wizard. "Wait, that thing isn't a doll?!" Lucy screamed, turning her body to run away from the giant creature.

However, her legs gave out beneath her, her muscles refusing to cooperate with her as she crumbled uselessly to the floor. "Shit! I can't move my legs!" Angelica's eyes gleamed, letting out another squeak as she fell towards Lucy, ready to crush her.

Lucy screamed, her arms instinctively coming up to protect her head. She squeezed her eyes shut, awaiting the hard impact of 500 pounds falling onto her body. She heard one last squeak from Angelica, and she clutched her arms tighter around her body, awaiting her death.

When the impact didn't come, the blonde raised her head slightly. The first thing she saw was the color red. A very familiar red. Then there was the loud thud of the giant rat's body landing unconscious beside her master.

An armored knight, with flowing scarlet hair…Lucy got up, surprised she could still move when her legs couldn't even budge an inch just moments ago, "Erza!" The overwhelming relief of one of the guild's strongest mages being there washed over her, as she rushed forward to greet the knight.

But she stopped dead in her tracks when Erza turned to face her. A murderous aura radiated around her, a shadow cast over her sharp and deadly eyes as she glared at Lucy. _Oh yeah…We broke the guild rules and went on a S-Class Quest without permission…_ The blonde paled, backing away immediately.

"Lucy, you know why I'm here, don't you?"

"T-To take us back…isn't that right?" Lucy laughed awkwardly, rubbing her hands together and wiggling around in an attempt to escape the impending danger she could sense from the red-haired mage. But she trailed off as Erza continued to stare at her, her face stoic and unmoving, the dangerous aura only getting more intense.

* * *

"Lucy! Thank goodness!" the blue cat flew over to greet her, a cheerful smile on his face. Unfortunately, he did not notice the way she was kneeling on her knees in front of a particular red-haired mage.

"You're sa –" Happy stopped abruptly, his cheeks puffing and eyes widening as he finally noticed Erza's presence. When he finally regained his senses, the Exceed let out a cry of horror, flying away faster than he had ever flown before.

Happy hung upside down, his soul drifting away out of his mouth comically as Erza tightened her grip on his tail. "Where is Natsu?" the knight asked, her expression still emotionless.

"Please, wait!" Lucy finally stood up, gathering the courage to explain herself to Erza, "We apologize for going without permission, but this island is in real trouble! There are guys who are trying to resurrect a demon trapped in ice, and the people in the village are suffering thanks to that spell. Anyway, it's a big problem! We want to save this island somehow…"

The knight still refused to move a single facial muscle, "I don't care."

"T-Then at least let us finish the job!" Lucy stammered, before letting out a gasp as a sharp knife was thrust forward, the blade just millimeters away from her face.

"You're mistaken, Lucy. You have betrayed the Master. Do not think you can get away with this unscathed."

* * *

Gray awoke to the feeling of dirt and sweat clinging to his skin. He peeled his eyes open, flinching at the burst of bright light. The heat was horrible, and another trickle of sweat travelled down his brow as he sat up, moving the covers off of his half-naked body.

He ignored the ache that travelled through his body with every movement he made, and the dislikable feeling of the bandages wound tightly around his body, restricting him, as he inspected his surroundings briefly.

He wasn't in the cabin the chief had given to them; he was in a tent of some sort. _Where am I…?_ He walked towards the flaps of the tent, gently sweeping it aside to step out. The warm, but much cooler air hit his sweaty body, making him relax slightly.

"Thank goodness! You're awake," a voice sounded from behind him. He turned, facing a girl probably around the same age as him. She was dressed rather revealingly, probably a style that ran among all the villagers, but Gray couldn't be bothered by it. "Where are we?" he blurted out, still inspecting the surrounding tents around him.

"This is a storage area slightly away from the village. The village was destroyed last night, so everyone took refuge here."

"The village was…destroyed?" he echoed, confused. That was when the memories of the previous night came rushing into his hazy mind like a tidal wave.

 **-Flashback-**

" _Destroy the village," Lyon ordered._

" _Yes, sir."_

 **-End of Flashback-**

 _Lyon, you bastard…_ _You actually went and did it?_ He grit his teeth, the anger and panic surging up at him, as strong as they were yesterday. But as he did, a burning pain erupted at his chest, making him keel over and clutch it with a gasp.

"But, thanks to Lucy-san, Setsu-san and Natsu-san, no one was injured, so we have to at least be glad for that."

"Are they also here?" Gray asked as he felt the pain fade away slightly. "Yes. They asked us to direct you to their tent when you woke up."

"I see."

"They're waiting in that big tent over there," the nameless girl pointed over to her left, where a tent several times the size of the tent he was originally in lay. With a brief 'Thank you', he made his way over. Without hesitation, he lifted the flap of the tent, walking in, a question already playing on his lips.

He was dying to know how their battles turned out; he had felt so utterly _weak_ and _useless_ the previous night when that flame brain had knocked him out just to make sure he wouldn't fight. He knew he couldn't fight; but he had wanted to. The guilt of not having contributed whatsoever clung onto him tightly, dragging him down as much as a 100-pound weight would.

He felt it first. Something was off in the tent, something bad. A murderous aura hung around him, and just as he lifted his head to see what in the world could be creating such an aura, he felt a dying urge to just walk back out of the tent and never look back.

"You're late, Gray," Erza addressed monotonously, her arms crossed over her chest.

"E-Erza?!"

The feeling of utter horror and dreaded terror crept up to him, a feeling much too similar to what he felt when he first saw the frozen Deliora.

Erza sat on a moving box, using it as a makeshift chair. Beside her was a particular blonde and a particular cat, both bound tightly in ropes as they kneeled on the floor, tears streaming down their faces.

"Lucy! Happy!"

"I've heard what happened from Lucy. Weren't you supposed to be stopping Natsu? I'm speechless."

It was then that Gray felt the absence of two of his teammates. "Where's Natsu? And Na Na?"

Erza raised a brow, "That's what I'd like to know." Lucy opened her mouth, "They should have been in the village fighting Reitei's lackeys, but when we went to check, there was no one there. I figured that they'd be okay, and Erza told me to take her to where you were, Gray."

"I searched from the air," Happy continued, "And that's how we found this storage area. Erza stood up silently, walking forward, "Gray, we're going in search of Natsu and Setsu. When we find them, we're returning to the guild."

"W-What are you saying, Erza? If you heard what's going on, then you've got to know what is happening on this island!" Gray said. He definitely wasn't going back to the guild like this. How could he? It wasn't just the problem of breaking their promise to the villagers and creating a bad image of Fairy Tail. In fact, that was the least of his worries at the moment.

The problem was that Lyon was about to gather enough moonlight – enough moonlight to revive Deliora. The demon that took away his friends, his family, and most importantly, his teacher. He couldn't let that happen, not after all that he had done. He couldn't let anybody relive the horror from ten years ago, he just couldn't. If they left now, nobody would be able to stop the resurrection.

"And what of it?"

* * *

Natsu let out a yawn, "Shoot. We finally had a good idea, and then I overslept. It's your fault, Setsu. Why didn't you wake me up?"

"It's not my fault. I just figured you might want to rest more. It was a crazy battle last night, after all. And besides, that good idea was mainly thought of by me, you were too busy dozing off." Setsu teased lightly with a little laugh.

"What did you say?!" Natsu bonked her on the head.

"Ite!"

They continued walking, stopping in front of the temple ruins.

"Anyways, let's start!"

* * *

"I came here to bring back some guild rule-breakers. I have not a sliver of interest in anything else," Erza stated.

"Didn't you see what the people on this island look like?" Gray growled.

"I saw."

"And you're just going to leave them like that?!"

"The request has been posted to every guild. Would it not be better to leave it to some guild wizards who would take on the job properly?"

"I misjudged you, Erza!" Gray erupted. He couldn't believe it. He had thought Erza was someone of justice. He could understand her actions, they _had_ broken major guild rules, but she should have understood! She should have understood their want, no, their _need_ to help these people.

Did she not understand the danger? Couldn't she see that once Deliora was revived, lifting the curse would be the least of everybody's problems? Because once that demon was revived, they would all be _dead._ Dead, just like his friends, just like his family, just like Ul.

Who cared if the request was posted to other guilds? Deliora was expected to be revived _that night,_ and nobody would be able to stop it. They were the only chance the villagers had. They were the only hope they had, and if they just left, they would be leaving these people for the dead.

"What did you say?" Erza turned, the shadow looming over her features yet again as her aura erupted, sending danger signals to every soul in the room. However, that did nothing to ease Gray's anger.

"How dare you say that to the great Erza?!" Happy cried, attempting to get away from the danger. "You intend to break the guild rules as well?" Erza asked, a magic circle forming in front of her as she drew her sword. She swung the sharp blade, aiming it under Gray's chin.

As the cool metal tip touched his chin, Gray couldn't help but feel the small trickle of cold sweat running down his temple. But he pushed it away, he pushed away the fear, the uncertainty that was starting to grow in his chest. He moved, his hand gripping the blade of Erza's sword.

He dragged it down, all the way to his right chest, where he proudly bore the symbol of Fairy Tail. He ignored the feeling of the sharp blade digging into his skin, the anger and determination trampling it down.

"Do what you must."

His voice came out as a growl, one so fierce and determined.

"This is the path I've chosen. It's something I've got to do." He let go of the blade, and turned, walking past the still frozen Erza and to the tent exit. He lifted the flap, and just before he walked out, he paused.

"I'm going to finish this. If you're going to cut me down, do it."

Erza grit her teeth as Gray walked out silently, the blade shaking in her tight grasp. She turned to face the two that sat silently, their eyes wide and their hearts still pounding hard against their chest from the earlier display.

The two let out a squeak as Erza kicked a side barrel in rage and annoyance, the noise echoing in their ears.

"H-Hey, Erza, c-calm down!" Lucy cried.

"G-Gray's just angry because he lost to his old friend!" Happy tried. The knight simply stood in front of the two, lifting her blade. She swung down diagonally, in an 'X' formation. There was a utter silence as Lucy dreaded for the worst, waiting to feel the pain of having her flesh slicing open. But instead, the ropes they were restrained in fell to the ground, and not a single scratch was laid on the two.

"The present situation is unacceptable. So we'll continue this after the present problem is solved."

"Erza!" the two cheered, standing up, ready to glomp the red-haired knight.

"Don't get the wrong idea. You _will_ be punished."

"Aye…"

"And so, who is this…Na Na?"

"…"

* * *

"How pitiful. You're the only one left, Toby?" Lyon scoffed, his arms crossed over his chest. He sat on the throne of the temple ruins. The dog man let out a whine of agreement. "Damn you, Fairy Tail…Not bad."

"Please keep me fragging myself a secret, okay?" Toby said.

"Deliora's resurrection may be a danger at this rate," a new voice joined in the conversation. It was a old man, shorter than average. He bore a red tribal mask that covered the top half of his face, leaving only his mouth visible. His hunched figure was covered by a brown cloak, and his unruly dark green hair that greatly resembled that of a lion's mane was long enough to cover his hunched back and reach his hip.

"So you're here, Zalty," Lyon acknowledged.

"Deliora will be resurrected when we pour in the full magical power of the moon tonight. However, if the Moon Drip ceremony is interrupted, Deliora will stay frozen in that ice forever…And what's more, Titania has joined the enemy forces," Zalty provided the information.

"Your intelligence is fast, as always. But I cannot be defeated," Lyon held out his palm, ice magic hovering over it, "Nothing defeats the ice sword that surpasses even Ul's…"

"That is quite heartening to hear, yes…Then, it's been a while, but perhaps I should join in the battle myself…"

"Wait, you used to be able to fight?!" Toby joined in, obviously shocked.

"Yes. I know a bit of Lost Magic*, you see…"

"Hm. What an ominous fellow," Lyon commented. He was cut off by the sound and feeling of the ruins shaking. Rubble fell from the ceiling, the ground threatening to give out under their feet.

"An earthquake?!" Toby exclaimed.

 **Meanwhile…**

A sphere of dark energy swirled over Setsu's hand as she delivered a hard punch to the side of the pillar that held up the roof. The rubble came falling apart, smashing the entire length of the pillar into smithereens, and causing the ceiling to shake unsteadily. She leapt into the air, joining Natsu as they both delivered another punch to the top, making it crumble.

"Setsu, let's go!"

"Un."

They rushed forward, Natsu taking a deep breath as they did so, filling his lungs with flames. He roared, the fire bursting out of his mouth and aimed towards the ceiling. He created a straight hole all the way up to the throne room where Lyon and his comrades were.

Setsu peered up the hole, which had broken through several walls, probably six or seven. "Sugoi, Natsu." The Dragon Slayer simply responded with a loud laugh. Setsu sent a grin up towards the three faces that peered down at her, "Hi!"

"I'd rather destroy it before you found me out, but these ruins are a lot harder to bring down than I thought," Natsu smirked.

"What are you trying to do?" Lyon glared down at the two figures.

"Tip the building over," Natsu snarled, as if it were obvious. "Then the moonlight can't land on the demon in the basement," Setsu finished.

Just as the words left her mouth, the place started to tilt to the side. "You bastards," Lyon growled, "Curse you, Fairy Tail!"

"I dunno…I don't get what's happening at all…" Toby slurred. Zalty turned to him with a calm smirk on his face, "They are trying to tilt these ruins. By destroying half of the pillars holding up the base of the ruins, they can tilt the building so that the light of the moon cannot hit Deliora. That's their plan, I believe. They may not look it, but they are quite shrewd."

"Enough blabbing!" Natsu roared as a ball of flame ignited under his feet. He grabbed Setsu by the arm, lifting her up lightly. "Flames on his legs?" Lyon questioned. "He can produce flames from all over his body!" Toby declared.

Without warning, Natsu shot up at a, unexpected speed, slamming his hard head right in Lyon's gut. The white-haired wizard gagged, his eyes rolling back from the hard impact, the air knocked out from his body. At the same time, Natsu released his grip on Setsu's arm, and the girl landed lightly on her feet.

But just as Natsu thought that he had finally got Lyon, he was proven wrong when Lyon's face cracked, followed by the rest of his body. His entire body then blasted into smithereens, the small bits of ice flying everywhere.

"A clone, huh?" Setsu laughed. At the same time, Toby charged towards her, the same green claws on his hands, "Paralysis Claw: Mega Jellyfish!"

"Whoa, there," she giggled, somersaulting of the way. The dog man let out a growl, swiping at her again.

Setsu let another ball of dark energy hover over her palm. She couldn't do much more than that, as she had only just found out of this ability the previous night. Natsu had showed her a fireball, and it got her thinking that, if she could control negative energy, why not manipulate it to form a sphere in her hand?

It wasn't much, but it definitely added more oomph to her punches. She jumped, twirling in the air as she flew towards Toby. He grinned, jumping in the air as well. Setsu panicked, her sphere disappearing as she attempted to dodge his claws.

She couldn't dodge in mid-air, so the girl let him fly towards her. Just as he was within reaching range, he swiped a claw at her. She tumbled, arching her waist to avoid the attack. It narrowly caught the sleeve of her dress, but fortunately didn't make any contact whatsoever with her skin. She grabbed hold of his shoulders, using it as a boost to push herself further up.

With that, she flew higher, and then she raised her knees, placing both feet firmly on his shoulders as another boost, and kicked herself off. She landed on the opposite side, and she weighed herself lightly on both her feet, moving her limbs to make sure she had received no damage.

But that was when a fire ball hit her opponent straight in the face, making her jolt in surprise. She gawked as he flew to a wall, creating a crater in it.

And then the floor gave out.

Setsu screamed, plummeting into the random hole that had opened up underneath her.

 _Ah, what luck._

 ** _Hehe!_**

 _Shush, Na Na._

The last thing she registered was the hard pain of her head making contact with something hard, before she fell yet again into the world of darkness.


	10. Chapter 10

"It seems you were in luck, Reitei-sama," Zalty smirked, stepping up. Natsu was holding himself up from falling down the hole just as Setsu did, but just barely.

"Just keep the fact that I got hit to yourself," Toby raised a hand, his body entirely burnt from a direct hit of Natsu's flames. "What did you do?" Lyon demanded.

"What indeed?" Zalty answered.

"Don't avoid the question. It was your magic that destroyed the floor!" Lyon growled.

"As expected of Reitei-sama. Nothing gets past your eyes. But, please understand. I cannot afford to lose you until Deliora is resurrected."

Cold wind blasted out of Lyon's body, swirling around the room dangerously, "You're saying I'd lose if I was hit by those flames?" Ice shards broke from the ground, covering the ceilings, walls and floor. "Begone. I will finish him myself. I'm the one and only wizard who can defeat Deliora, Reitei Lyon. To even imply that I would have trouble with a brat like him is insulting."

"Oh my…" Zalty smirked.

"Defeat Deliora?" Natsu echoed.

* * *

A certain green-haired girl burst from the rubble, choking for air.

A burning pain erupted from the back of her skull, and the girl cursed, reaching to touch the spot. Her fingers met with a warm liquid, and she groaned, "Great. My head is split open." She stood up, brushing off the rubble on her body.

Setsu glanced up at the hole she had fell from, frowning. "Fucking bastards. Don't interfere in a proper fight between two wizards, don't they know that it's rude?"

She had no means of getting back up there, so the gold-eyed girl decided to explore the cave she had fell in. It was the same cave they had been in the previous day, the cave which held Deliora. Just hearing the name sent shivers up her spine.

 _ **I want to play with Deliora!**_

 _When you come out, Na Na. I'm too scared to face that thing._

She was answered by a childish laugh that rang at the back of her mind. She stepped carefully around the rubble and the small crate she had created from her fall, and with a huff and a small jump over a particularly large piece of rock, she got out of the mess.

Glancing around, she noticed two passageways before her. Both looked identical, and Setsu sighed. "Damn it. I never was good at directions."

 _ **Take the left one! I think that one's more fun!**_

Right it is, then.

* * *

"But, it's like, already half defeated, right? So you want to break it out of the ice on purpose, just to fight it?" Natsu scoffed, "That's pretty whacked out there, buddy."

"It's all to surpass Ul. So I can continue to dream!"

Dozens of ice birds flew out of the magic circle that appeared out of his palm, flying directly at Natsu. The Dragon Slyer calmly somersaulted out of the way. As another ice attack came towards him, he leaped out of the way, "Then why don't you just challenge Ul directly?"

"You didn't hear? Ul's already dead!"

Natsu jolted.

 **-Flashback-**

" _The demon who Ul, the wizard who taught me magic, risked her life to seal away!" Gray said, his gaze locked onto the frozen demon._

 **-End of Flashback-**

"So she ended up dying?"

"That's right. And it was Gray's fault," Lyon growled, holding out his palm. With a cry he thrust it forward, but no magic circle appeared in front of his palm, nor any ice attacks. That was when Natsu felt something behind him.

He turned, an ice bird heading straight at his face. It collided with him, hard. Natsu only had time to hold out his arms in front of his face as a defense, and as the smoke cleared, he glared straight at Lyon, his arms still stinging from the sharp impact, "I don't know what happened in the past, but what you're doing now is making a lot of people suffer," Natsu growled, "I'm gonna make you open your eyes!"

A ball of fire ignited around his left fist, "With my flames!"

* * *

"Defeat Deliora? That's his goal?" Lucy asked. The three were running through the forest in search of the temple ruins, with Happy flying high above their heads.

"Lyon's aim has always been to surpass Ul. Now with Ul gone, he wants to defeat Deliora, a foe that Ul couldn't kill, in order to surpass her," Gray answered, his head lowered.

"I see. So that's the only way for him to surpass someone who's already dead," Lucy nodded.

"Aye."

"No…He…Lyon doesn't know." Lucy made a sound of confusion, as Gray turned to face them, "It's true that Ul is no longer with us."

"But…Ul is still alive."

* * *

Setsu let out a sigh. She had no idea where she was, and no matter which way she went, she ended up in a place identical to the place she had been in moments ago.

She had gone on like that for an hour, hoping that she would find a exit somewhere, but no. It was as if she was going round and round in circles.

 _ **Ne, ne, Setsuuuuu…**_

 _What is it?_

 _ **Go to the right! I think there's a toy there!**_

Setsu paused. She had been taking directions opposite from what Na Na told her to take, because she didn't really want to face one of Na Na's 'toys' in her condition. How could she fight someone now with blood streaming out of her head? But she was lost, and like hell was she going to continue going on like that for the rest of the day.

 _Right it is._

* * *

She had never felt so humiliated in her life.

Just by listening to Na Na's directions once, just _once,_ and she had found herself standing in front of the frozen Deliora. She should have listened to her earlier. Setsu glanced around. There was another passageway on the opposite end, one that she remembered led to the staircase to the temple ruins.

Shoving her hands behind her back, she walked forward with a childish huff. She knew she was bad at directions, but she didn't think it was _this_ bad. She continued to walk, blushing slightly in embarrassment.

 _ **Ne, ne, Setsu…It's the other passageway.**_

 _The other passageway? Don't be silly, Na Na. I know where I'm going._

And in front of her, where she expected to be a staircase leading to the temple ruins, was another open space with two passageways in front of her to choose.

 _Oh, you've got to be kidding me._

* * *

"What do you mean?" Erza asked. Gray lowered his head in response, a frown creeping up his face. His eyes glazed over as he started, "Ten years ago, the city where I lived in was attacked by Deliora. It didn't even take a day for it to be destroyed."

 **-Flashback-**

 _Ul walked forward, her eyes inspecting the destroyed city.A white-haired boy followed silently behind her, his jaw slackened with horror and shock. Buildings were shredded, the entire floor covered by grey dust, rubble, glass, wood and what could be human remains._

" _Deliora…" she stopped, her brow furrowing, "I'd heard the rumors, but I'd never imagined…"_

 _A certain dark-haired boy groaned. A large piece of cement was pressed down on his small body, hindering his movement. His throat burned, his mouth felt dry. His memories were a blur, the pain of the rubble crushing him making him whimper lightly in his half-unconscious state._

" _Lyon! Come over here! We've got a survivor!" Ul called._

 _Gray could barely register the foreign voice. But the next thing he knew, the rubble was lifted off of his bruises body, and a boy's voice rang in his ears, making his head pound, "Hey! Are you alright?"_

 _Gray peeled his eyes open, his vision blurry. A boy's face stared down at him in worry, and another woman stood behind him, her dark eyes locked onto him as well._

* * *

"I was saved by Ul and Lyon who just happened to pass by," Gray stated.

* * *

 _A piece of barren land covered by heaps of dirt marked by broken planks of wood signified a single person's grave. The young Gray kneeled before his parents' grave, his head lowered as he placed a single flower before it._

" _Deliora…" he grit his teeth as uncontrollable tears streamed down his bruised cheeks, "I won't forgive you…"_

" _Deliora… One day, I'll…"_

 _The boy trailed off, unable to contain his sobs as he broke down, mourning for his parents' deaths._

* * *

"And for me, that was how it all started."

* * *

 _Young Gray panted, his arms resting on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath. Fogs of smoke came out of his mouth, the cold winter air knocking against his body, threatening to push him down._

" _Gray…Can you keep up?" Ul asked, her back turned towards him. "My training is harsh," she smiled, turning to face him. Gray kept silent for a while, still trying to catch his breath. He raised his head, his gaze determined, "You bet! I'll do anything! As long as I can get the power to defeat Deliora, I'd do anything!"_

" _Sheesh," Lyon huffed._

" _Okay then, let's start," Ul smiled._

" _Sure, I'm ready for you anytime," Gray replied, his gaze determined. But that gaze was swayed immediately as he let out a cry of shock, backing away. For before him, his teacher had begun to remove her clothes, standing upright clad in only her bra and underwear._

" _W-What are you doing?!"_

" _Off with the clothes, now," Ul smirked._

" _You've got to be kidding me!" Gray flailed around comically, "You think I'd strip in this weather?! Isn't that right, Lyon?" He turned to face his fellow classmate, and his jaw dropped. The white-haired boy had his arms crossed over his bare chest, dressed only in his underwear as he smiled at Gray._

" _Not you, too?!"_

" _Just hurry up and strip!" Lyon laughed, "You want power, right?"_

 _Gray pouted, "Fine, I got it already! I'll strip! All I got to do is strip, right?!" Ul laughed as Gray began to remove his clothes, "That'll do. If you're going to control the cold, then you need to become one with the cold. Everything starts from there."_

 _The two boys stood side by side, both trembling violently. Lyon had his arms crossed over his chest despite his trembling, as he pretended that he was perfectly fine, "I'm t-totally used to it already!"_

 _Gray frowned, rubbing his hands over his arms as he crouched over, his teeth chattering, "…h-he says while shivering…"_

 _Ul ignored them, turning around, "Time to run, boys!"_

" _Hey, teach us magic!" Gray cried as he followed after her in the snow._

" _Stop complaining and start running! See, I'm doing basics too!" Lyon laughed._

* * *

 _Gray was pretty sure he was going to go crazy. They ran every single day for miles and miles, in the icy weather dressed in only their underwear. They were forced to take baths in ice water, forced to sleep in the cold._

 _He was surprised his toes hadn't fallen off._

* * *

" _Listen. Among the many magics, Creation Magic is the magic with the greatest freedom… Each individual's creation magic is unique."_

" _Devote yourself."_

" _And search out your own form..."_

* * *

" _Hey, don't you have an extra student there?" the waitress asked Ul, who sat at the fruit stall munching on an apple. "His name's Gray. He's a rebel and quite the handful."_

 _The two boys sat a distance away from their teacher silently, unable to hear the conversation._

" _And the other one is named Lyon, right? Both of them seem like they'll be hunks in the future," the waitress commented._

" _Really?" Ul asked sarcastically._

" _Hey, when they grow up, let me have one, 'kay?" the girl giggled._

" _Take both of 'em. Their constant noise is driving me nuts."_

" _You look like you've got children, so no man would come near you," the waitress pointed out. "I don't need any love advice, thanks," Ul laughed, passing a handful of bills over. The waitress handed her a paper bag full of fresh fruits with a soft smile, "You're not getting any younger, Ul… Shouldn't you be thinking about your own happiness a bit?"_

" _Yeah, yeah…"_

* * *

" _Hey, Gray," Lyon smiled. The two boys were waiting for Ul to get the groceries from the fruit stall. "How long more do you think it'll take for us to get better than Ul?"_

" _I don't care," Gray replied monotonously, his hands shoved in his pockets._

" _Ul's my goal!" Lyon said, looking up at the winter sky, "My dream is to beat her one day."_

" _No matter how many times you tell me that, my answer would be the same: I don't care."_

" _You're so dark," Lyon commented._

" _And you're too cheerful. You keep blabbing on about Ul all the time."_

" _Ul told me that the reason she accepted you as her pupil was because you were trapped in darkness."_

" _After seeing what I saw, how could I not be?"_

" _She said she wanted to drive away the darkness," Lyon smiled._

" _I'll do that myself. With my own hands…" Gray clenched his fist, "As long… As long as I defeat Deliora, that's good enough for me. The minute I get the power, I'll say sayonara to that ice queen."_

 _He was interrupted by a hard fist drilling at the top of his skull. He let out a cry of pain, pulling away from his attacker. "What did you call your teacher?!" Ul growled, her fist raised and an irk mark at the side of her forehead._

" _Sorry…"_

* * *

 _Gray walked silently beside Ul, his hands shoved in his pockets. "When are you going to teach me some powerful magic?"_

" _I already did."_

" _How is Creation Magic strong? It's no use at all." Ul stopped mid-walk at his words. She turned to face him, her eyes narrowed and stern._

 _At her stern gaze, Gray looked away instinctively. "Look here." When Gray still refused to look at her, she raised her voice slightly, "Gray!"_

 _When the young boy finally turned his head to look at her, she said, "I told you, remember? Creation Magic is the magic with the greatest freedom. When you find your own form, it can be as powerful as you want."_

" _You're just saying the same old stuff," Gray huffed._

" _WHY ARE YOU STRIPPING HERE?!" Ul screamed. Sure enough, the young boy had stripped down to his underwear, his clothes lying in a heap on the ground beside him. Gray startled at her words, looking down at his bare body with a cry of shock, as if he himself had not noticed his actions._

" _I-It's all your fault I have this weird habit!" Gray accused. "It's my fault?!" Ul snapped, punching him and sending him flying off into the air. A group of people had now formed around the group, laughing at them._

 _Ul blushed, holding up the still half-naked and half-unconscious Gray by his neck. "L-Let's go home."_

"' _Kay…" was Gray's weak reply._

* * *

" _Wow, that was embarrassing," Ul sighed as they walked through the snowy mountain on their way back home. "Hilarious…" Lyon giggled._

" _Shut up, pointy eyes," Gray snapped._

" _You shut up, droopy eyes," Lyon countered. That was when a carriage containing several men, pulled by a purple boar, came into view. The three payed no attention to them as they passed by. But that was until Gray heard their conversation._

" _So, did you hear about Deliora?"_

" _Yeah. They say that it's moved to the Northern Continent. Somewhere around Brago, I hear."_

" _Really? Then peace has returned to Isvan?"_

 _Gray dropped the bag of groceries he was holding, his head lowered. Ul and Lyon stopped in their tracks as well, not having heard the men's conversation, glancing at Gray in confusion. "Gray?"_

"… _Deliora is at…Brago?"_

* * *

" _Stop this! There's no way you can win against Deliora!" Ul shouted over the snow storm as the young Gray stepped forward despite the harsh weather. "It's impossible for you, Gray!"_

 _Gray stopped, his voice low, "Shut up. You think you can understand?" He turned to face them, his pupils dilated in pure hate and desire for revenge, "I'm going to avenge my parents. You got a problem with that?!"_

" _You leave, and you're expelled."_

" _Yeah, sounds good to me," Gray scoffed, turning back to continue walking, "If I die, then I'll haunt you for not teaching me more powerful magic."_

 _ **-End of Flashback-**_

* * *

Lucy tilted her head in confusion, following the direction the ruins were tilted in as they stared at it. "Huh? The ruins…are tilted?"

"What happened?" Happy asked.

"Natsu and Setsu, I bet," Gray sighed.

"Yeah," Erza agreed.

"Not sure how they did it, but only Natsu would do something nuts like that," Gray pointed out, "It doesn't really matter whether they did it on purpose or not. Now the light of the moon won't land on Deliora."

"Who knew that Natsu's tendency for destruction could actually come in handy?" Lucy asked, craning her head back to stop it from tilting. Happy replied, trying futilely to crank his head straight, "I knew. It was foreshadowed."

Lucy let out a cry of shock as the cat's head finally snapped, tilting over to the other side. That was when Erza turned, her gaze sharp, "Watch out!"

She punched Lucy and Happy out of the way as she and Gray jumped, successfully dodging a dozen shuriken aimed straight at the places they had been standing at before. "Who's there?!"

A group of cloaked people, all dressed in purple cloaks and faces covered by what seemed like paper bags, stood in front of them. Gray recognized them as the people who were at the top of the ruins the previous night, performing the ritual to revive Deliora.

"We've found you, Fairy Tail!" one shouted.

"We won't allow you to interfere with Reitei-sama!"

"These guys…" Gray growled. "Lyon's followers?!"

"We're surrounded!" Lucy cried. Sure enough, both ends of the path were blocked by an equal number of cloaked men.

"Leave them to me," Erza stated, raising her palm. A red magic circle appeared in front of it, and she drew a single sword from it. "Erza?"

"Go, Gray. Finish up with Lyon."

Gray stood, slightly stunned, before giving her a determined nod. Lucy smiled, pulling out her whip, "Don't worry, we're here too, so just go!"

"Aye!"

"You guys…" Gray grinned.

 _He still doesn't know that Ul is still alive,_ Gray thought as he ran straight towards the ruins.

 _The only one who can stop him…is me!_

 _ **-Flashback-**_

 _Deliora let out a deafening roar, it's body shaking as a beam of light shot out from its open jaws, straight towards another part of the village. It erupted into flames, the explosion so deafening, the sound intermingled with screams of grief, terror and pain._

 _Dead bodies decorated the ground, some too deformed to be recognized. Houses and buildings were now mere splinters, the entire village engulfed in flames. Ul stood just a distance away from the demon, her stance firm, "Ice Make: Rose Garden!"_

 _Large blocks of ice, in the form of roses, erupted from her palm, covering the distance between her and Deliora, freezing the demon all the way up to its neck in ice. The demon let out another roar, trying to break free of the restraints. It shot another beam straight at Ul, making her leap out of the way._

 _It shook slightly, and the ice restraining it shattered immediately, the ice shards littering the ground around it. "Damn…" Ul cursed, slumping over, "I didn't think it'd be this strong…"_

 _She turned over, glancing at the two boys who lay unconscious on the rubble. Gray let out a groan, peeling his eyes open as he struggled to get up. His head shot up, his eyes darting around in panic as he tried to locate the demon. Tears formed around his eyes, his eyes wide with utter terror as he saw it destroying another part of the village._

 _Ul stepped forward, picking him up gently. She pulled him into an embrace, wrapping her arms around his weak body, "It'll be fine. Everything'll be fine now."_

 _She pulled away, Gray staring up at her with wide eyes, "Ul…Why?"_

" _No questions. Just take Lyon away from here. It's harder to fight when I have to protect you, too." Gray turned to face the white-haired boy who still lay unconscious just beside him. "Lyon…"_

" _He's out for the count," Ul sighed._

 _Gray ran over to the unconscious boy. He slung one of Lyon's arms around his shoulder, heaving him up. "Deliora…" Gray cursed, "I wasn't…able to do anything…"_

" _Hurry up and go."_

" _Ul, why did you come? I thought I was expelled…"_

 _Ul stopped, "A good friend of mine told me that I should start thinking about my own happiness. But I don't remember being all that unhappy. Isn't that right?"_

 _She turned to face him, her gaze soft and loving, "With my two bright students growing day by day… Every day on an adventure… That's all the happiness I need."_

 _Gray stared at her, his eyes wide, on the brink of tears. "I came here to take back that happiness," Ul continued. "Ul… your leg…" Gray trailed off. For where there was supposed to be her leg, was now replaced by one made of ice, "Oh, this? I lost it, but it's no big deal. Creation Magic is pretty amazing, don't you think?"_

 _Tears now streamed down Gray's cheeks, his teeth gritted. "If that monster is your darkness," Ul smiled, "Then I have a reason to fight it. Go…I'll defeat it."_

" _Don't… I won't let you! This is all my fault!"_

" _It's no one's fault. This is just a hurdle to take back my happiness."_

" _Ul…" a new voice sounded. Lyon broke free of Gray's hold, stumbling on his feet. "You're awake, Lyon? You and Gray -"_

" _You're really going to do it?" Lyon asked, his voice disbelieving. He stumbled towards her, his eyes wide, "Happiness? What are you talking about?"_

" _Lyon…" Gray reached out towards him._

" _SHUT UP!" Lyon roared. "Ul, you're the strongest wizard there is… There's no way you'd lose to some monster, right?"_

" _Lyon, I've told you before," Ul sighed, "There's always someone better."_

" _That can't be true…"_

" _There are tons of wizards stronger than me in the countries to the west."_

" _That's not true…" Lyon repeated, a trembling smile creeping up his face, as if he was believing everything to be a sick joke. "You're the strongest, Ul… If you're not then… why'd I go through all that training?"_

 _Ul smiled softly, "After you surpass me, then you should just find a new goal."_

" _I became your pupil because I thought you were the strongest! Don't you dare lose to that monster!"_

" _DON'T BETRAY ME!" he roared._

" _Lyon…"_

 _The boy broke out into a run, heading straight for Deliora. "If you're not gonna be serious, then I'll do it!"_

 _He stopped just a little away from Deliora. He took a stance, his small body trembling with rage. He brought his arms together, crossing them in front of him in an 'X' form._

 _Ul jolted, "That pose… Where did you learn that?!"_

" _Where, you ask?" Lyon echoed. A giant magic circle appeared underneath his feet, "Because you wouldn't teach me any powerful magic, I had to read the spell books in your storehouse!"_

 _He grinned crazily, "Why'd you hide such powerful magic from me?"_

" _Iced Shell…Lyon, did you read that book to the end?! The people who use that magic…" Deliora let out a roar just then, turning to face the three, "It noticed us…" Ul cursed._

" _No magic would work against Deliora…" Lyon chuckled, "In that case, I'll use this magic to trap you for eternity in ice!" But he was stopped, when a bright light shone behind him, freezing his entire body in ice._

 _Ul had her palm still stretched out from delivering the attack, "I can't let you use that magic."_

" _Ul, why did you -" Gray stuttered._

" _He can't use Iced Shell. The people who use it destroy their own bodies," she stepped forward to face Deliora, "But it's true that it is the only thing that can stop this thing. I can't believe Lyon would think of trying the same thing I was going to do."_

" _Was trying to do…?" Gray echoed. Ul's aura erupted around her, in the form of a white flame as she walked forward, "That's a discipline for you…"_

" _Ul!"_

" _Step back."_

 _She stopped, taking on the same stance Lyon had taken on just a few moments ago. With a cry, she crossed her hands in front of her, magical power bursting out in large amounts, causing the ground underneath her to crack. Magical circles formed around Deliora's large body._

" _I won't let you get near my pupils! This is the end for you, monster!" she roared. "ULTIMATE FREEZE: ICED SHELL!"_

 _She was engulfed in a bright light, before her body was destroyed, taking on the forms of several balls of magical power, darting straight for the demon. The magic circles surrounding Deliora closed, and a loud crash resounded, so utterly deafening. Ul's face cracked, and Gray, finally finding his voice, screamed, his voice full of pain and terror, "UL!"_

" _I told you. This magic destroys the body," her voice sounded calm, as if she was not destroying her body right then and there. "It's magic that turns one's body to ice…for eternity."_

" _Gray…I have a favor to ask you. Tell Lyon I died. If he knew that I became the ice, he'd probably spend his entire life trying to undo the spell. If he did that, that'd defeat the purpose."_

" _STOP IT!" Gray screamed._

" _I want Lyon to see more of the world… And you too, Gray…"_

" _I'm begging you…" Gray kneeled in front of her, tears streaming down his face, "Stop! Please, I'll do whatever you say from now on!"_

" _Don't be sad…I'll…live on. I'll live on as the ice for all eternity. Go forth…to your future."_

" _I will seal your darkness."_

 _And she was gone._

* * *

"Ul gave her life to drive away my days of darkness. 'Go forth…to your future'. With those words in mind, I decided to start on a new path. However…"

* * *

 _Lyon sat up, his hand flying up to his pounding head. "Damn that Ul…" He opened his eyes, finally noticing the frozen demon that stood before him._

" _Deliora is…" he trailed off, turning to face Gray, who sat silently, his knees against his chest. "Iced Shell, right? Ul did it? Ul… What happened to Ul?"_

 _Gray didn't respond, his small body wrecking with his sobs._

" _Gray!"_

" _S-She's dead."_

" _Eh?" Lyon stopped, his arms falling to his sides limply, "You're lying…"_

" _YOU'RE LYING!" Lyon roared, charging towards Gray and tackling him down to the floor. "YOU BASTARD! WHAT ABOUT MY DREAM?! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO SURPASS UL NOW?! EH?!"_

 _He gripped gray's collar, shaking him back and forth violently, tears of rage, of grief streaming down his cheeks. "S-Sorry…" Gray finally managed to get out through his sobs._

" _SORRY?! SCREW YOU! IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU…" Lyon trailed off, finally letting go of Gray's collar, "If you hadn't challenged Deliora…"_

 _Lyon stood up, his head lowered. His features were obscured from view , before he looked up, the tears now gone. His eyes were wide, his aura radiating hate and anger._

" _This is your fault, Gray."_

" _You killed Ul."_


End file.
